Privacy Policy of SEMS
“SEMS” is an intelligent energy management platform by SES Smart Grid Solutions Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “SES” or “we”). We highly value the protection of personal information security and privacy related to data services. Therefore, we have developed this privacy policy to clarify how we collect and use your personal information when you use SEMS services through the website www.sems.com (hereinafter referred to as the “Website”) or the SEMS application (hereinafter referred to as the “App”; collectively, the “SEMS”).
This privacy policy also informs you of how to exercise your rights as a data owner (including the right to object to the processing of certain data). For more information about your rights and how to exercise them, please refer to the section “Your Rights and Choices” below.
Please read this privacy policy carefully. When you use SEMS-related services, you may need to authorize SEMS to process your personal data within the scope of this privacy policy. If you have any questions, please contact us using the methods outlined in the “Contact Us” section below.
This privacy policy provides you with the following information:
- How we collect and use your personal information
- How we use cookies and similar technologies
- How we share, transfer, and disclose your personal information
- How we protect your personal information
- Your rights and choices
- How we transfer your personal data globally
- Commitment of the SEMS team to protect your privacy
- Retention period
- How we handle children’s personal information
- How we update this policy
- Contact Us
- How we collect and use your personal information
1.1 When you register an account, we will ask you to confirm that you have read this privacy agreement. If you check the privacy agreement, you will be deemed to have agreed that we may collect, store, use, and share your personal information according to this policy. The information we may collect includes: username, country (region), phone number, email address, company name, and code of the distributor/installer from the provider. The items marked with an asterisk in the registration form are required to use this feature. Failure to provide such information will result in a registration request being rejected. We collect this information to help you create an account.
1.2 When you log into SEMS, we may collect information such as: IP address of the login device or router; time zone when making the request; date and time (including the time difference related to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)); browser type, version, and language; device operating system; device model information (e.g., 14 Pro Max); MAC address of the device; device serial number; Android ID, IMSI network type; the page you are viewing; access status; HTTP status code; the name and size of the requested file. We only collect this information to ensure account security and system operation security. We do not collect your account information when you log in as a guest.
1.3 When you use the App to log into SEMS, we may further process your device’s virtual ID. This is a unique nickname automatically generated by the algorithm when you install the App. The virtual ID will not be linked to your phone number or mobile device hardware information. We collect this information to send you important in-app messages such as notifications about offline plants, malfunctions, or parameter setting completions. The information will not be used for any other purpose.
1.4 When you create a plant, we may collect your location information, username, phone number, and email address. We collect this information to provide better services, such as precise positioning services, and this data will not be used for any other purpose.
1.5 When you connect an inverter or electricity meter to SEMS, we may collect information such as: the electricity generated by the inverter, real-time power output of the inverter, battery charging energy of the storage inverter, battery discharging power of the storage inverter, forward active power of the electricity meter, reverse active power of the electricity meter, forward active kilowatt-hour of the electricity meter, and reverse active kilowatt-hour of the electricity meter. We collect this information to help you monitor the operational status of the device. These data will not be used for any other purpose.
1.6 When you use SEMS to monitor and analyze the operational status of the plant, we may collect information such as: plant name, plant type, plant status, installed capacity, real-time capacity, daily production, device name, device status, fault nature, fault time, and device location. We collect this information to help you manage the plant.
1.7 When you share a plant, we will ask you to provide the recipient’s email address if you have the legal right to do so. If you are not authorized to share personal information with third parties, please do not add or share any personal information.
1.8 When you add a device to the plant or access the local endpoint login devices, we may require your permission to access Bluetooth, WLAN, and the camera to collect SSID information. We require these permissions to help you add a device to your plant or perform on-site device debugging; these data will not be used for any other purpose. If you do not need such services, you can revoke these permissions in the device settings.
1.9 When you copy and paste content while using SEMS, we may require access to the clipboard’s copy/paste function and collect text information from your clipboard. Information in the Clipboard will only be processed on your device, and we will not store information from this clipboard for other purposes.
1.10 When you enable the automatic renewal of mobile data, we may collect your address, payer, or company name, invoice title (if any), and third-party payment information. The required information will be marked with an asterisk and is mandatory to activate this service. We cannot complete the automatic renewal if you do not provide this information. We collect this information to help you complete the automatic renewal of mobile data to ensure that you can use monitoring functions normally.
1.11 When you use the Map function, we may collect a list of navigation apps installed on your phone. We will not collect any personal information from you. You can open the privacy agreement in the corresponding navigation software to see what information has been collected from you.
1.12 When you upload photos, we may require access to your camera and photos. We request these permissions to help you complete the photo upload process, and these data will not be used for any other purpose. If you do not need such services, you can revoke these permissions in the device settings.
1.13 When you reset your password through the Forgot Password function, we may need to collect the registered phone number or email address to verify your identity and ensure data security in the account.
1.14 When you use storage services, such as downloading upgrade logs, providing feedback, and changing your avatar, we may request permission to delete and create files on the SD card to download and store files.
1.15 When the App is running in the background, and you also agree to this privacy policy, the App will enable automatic launch or related features as needed to allow you to receive message notifications provided by the App. We will send you important notifications through the Message Center, such as notifications related to the creation or deletion of plants, offline plants, or troubleshooting, as well as the completion of parameter settings. You can choose to enable/disable notification permissions in the device settings.
1.16 Device Permissions Activation: To provide services and ensure you can use the product features normally, we will request the following device permissions from the system after obtaining your consent. You can choose to Allow or Deny the permission request. With your permission, we will activate the related permissions. You can revoke authorization in the system at any time; this will prevent you from using the related operational functions but will not affect your use of other operational functions that do not require that permission.
Below are various operational functions that use system privacy permissions:
- Notifications
- Operational Function: Push notifications and message alerts
- Approval Method: Popup window when the user enables this function for the first time
- Can this feature be disabled? Yes
- Storage
- Operational Function: Download firmware upgrade packages, provide feedback, change avatar
- Approval Method: Popup window when the user enables this function for the first time
- Can this feature be disabled? No
- How we use cookies and similar technologies
To ensure that the Website operates normally and efficiently when you visit SEMS, we may store small data files called cookies on your computer or mobile device. A cookie is a plain text file stored by a web server on a computer or mobile device. Cookies are commonly used by website owners to make websites work more efficiently or productively and to report information.
The purpose of enabling cookies for this service is similar to that of most websites or Internet service providers: to improve the user experience. With the help of cookies, websites can remember a user’s one-time (session cookies) or multiple visits (persistent cookies). Using cookies, websites can save preferred settings such as language, font size, and other browsing options on a computer or mobile device. This means users do not need to reconfigure their choices each time they visit a website. Websites that disable cookies will not recognize you each time you open the website. This service will not use cookies for any purpose other than those specified in this policy. You can manage or delete cookies according to your preferences. For more details, please refer to AboutCookies.org. You can delete all cookies stored on your computer, and most web browsers allow you to block cookies. However, if you do so, you will need to change your user settings each time you access our website.
- How we share, transfer, and disclose your personal information
3.1 Sharing
We will not share your personal information with third parties except in the following cases:
(1) We may share your personal information with third parties after receiving your explicit consent.
(2) We may share your personal information externally in accordance with laws and regulations or as required by mandatory requests from competent government authorities.
(3) Please read our partners’ privacy policies carefully to understand how they use the shared information.
3.2 Data Transfer
We do not transfer your personal information to any company, organization, or individual except in the following cases:
(1) Clear consent has been obtained for the data transfer: we may transfer your personal information to others after receiving your explicit permission;
(2) The transfer of personal information is carried out in compliance with the requirements of laws, regulations, and legal procedures, or mandatory requests from government or judicial authorities;
(3) In cases of mergers, acquisitions, or liquidation procedures requiring the transfer of personal information. In this case, we will require this privacy policy to continue to bind the company or organization to which the end user’s personal information is transferred; otherwise, we will require the company or organization to reauthorize and obtain your permission.
3.3 Disclosure
We will only publicly disclose your personal information in the following cases:
(1) We have obtained clear consent from you or your end users;
(2) Disclosure of information is required by law: we may publicly disclose your or your end users’ personal information in accordance with laws, legal procedures, litigation, or mandatory requests from competent government authorities;
(3) In emergencies where it is necessary to disclose personal information on a reasonable basis to protect our important legal rights and interests, customers, end users, or others.
- How we protect your personal information
4.1 The protective measures we apply: We apply industry-standard security protection measures to protect the personal information you provide against unauthorized access, public disclosure, use, modification, damage, or loss. We will take all reasonable and feasible measures to protect your personal information. For example:
(1) We regularly conduct thorough inspections of our systems and applications and promptly fix any vulnerabilities to prevent hackers from exploiting these vulnerabilities and breaching data.
(2) We closely manage and monitor your core personal data in the system and regularly perform inspections of vulnerable activities. All risky data activities will be detected and handled promptly;
(3) We apply i) encryption technology to ensure data security; ii) protection mechanisms to prevent malware attacks; and iii) access control mechanisms to ensure that only authorized individuals can access personal data.
4.2 Certifications we have received: The Information Security Management System (ISO 27001) is a certification that effectively protects information resources and ensures the healthy, orderly, and sustainable development of information technology. The Information Security Management System (ISO 27701) is a system standard certification under an international management system that integrates privacy protection principles, concepts, and methods into information security protection systems, helping companies enhance privacy protection and information security capabilities.
4.3 Our data security capabilities: SES values the security of your personal data and has implemented appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect the personal information we collect. SEMS will use the HTTPS protocol to protect your personal data during transmission. When we store your personal data, we use computer systems to effectively restrict access. These systems are deployed in physically protected facilities using security measures.
4.4 Countermeasures we apply: In the unfortunate event of a personal information security incident, we will promptly notify you of the following information as required by laws and regulations: the basic situation and possible impact of the security incident, the countermeasures we have taken or will take, suggestions on how you can prevent and mitigate risks yourself, and remedies for you. We will notify you of the incident-related information via email, push notification, etc. In cases where it is impossible to notify each personal information subject individually, we will notify the information in a reasonable and effective manner. We will also proactively report to higher-level authorities on handling personal information security incidents as required by regulatory agencies.
- Your rights and choices
Under relevant laws, regulations, and standards of China and the established practices in other countries and regions, we ensure that you have the following rights concerning your personal information:
5.1 Access to your personal information: After registering an account and creating a plant on SEMS, you can access your personal information by going to the “My Account Information” section. You can also contact us at any time to request explanations and verification of different data information. Such information will include, but is not limited to, the basic information you provided when registering an account and creating a plant, such as avatar, username, nickname, phone number, email address, organization information, parent company information, and any other information displayed on our platform.
5.2 Correcting your personal information: In case you find any omissions or possible errors in your personal information, you can log into SEMS and modify the information or provide additional information by going to the “My Account Information” section. If you cannot modify or provide additional information yourself, you can contact us at any time to modify data or add additional information. We will modify or supplement immediately after verifying the missing or inaccurate information.
5.3 Deleting your personal information: You can request us to delete personal information in the following cases:
(1) We have processed personal information in violation of laws or regulations;
(2) We have collected or used your personal information without your consent;
(3) We have processed personal information in violation of the agreement between us and you;
(4) We no longer provide products or services to you.
If we decide to respond to your request, we will simultaneously notify the organizations that have collected your personal information from us to request that they delete the information immediately, except as required by other laws or regulations or in cases where these organizations have been independently authorized by you.
5.4 Changing the scope of your consent and approval: When providing services, we need you to grant us certain device permissions, such as permissions for notifications, photos, cameras, and Bluetooth. You can refuse to allow us to collect the corresponding personal information by deactivating some or all of these permissions on your device at any time. The permission display modes and deactivation methods may vary depending on the device and system. Please refer to the instructions and guidelines provided by the device and system developers for more details.
5.5 Account cancellation by the personal information owner: You can cancel the previously registered account at any time by going to “My Account and Security – Cancel Account.” After canceling the account, we will stop providing products and services to you and delete your personal information unless otherwise required by laws and regulations.
5.6 You also have the right to restrict our processing of your personal information:
(1) If you disagree with the accuracy of the personal data information displayed on SEMS, you can ask us to verify the accuracy of your personal information within a specified time limit.
(2) If you believe that we have unlawfully processed data, you can object to our data processing and request that we restrict the use of personal data information. However, please provide us with the reason for objecting to data processing so we can assess whether there is a suitable legal basis for us to continue processing that data.
(3) If we no longer need certain types of your personal information for specific processing purposes, but you believe that this personal information needs to be retained to establish, enforce, and protect your rights, you can request that we retain that information.
- How we transfer your personal data globally
SES is a multinational company, which means that the personal information we collect may be transferred, stored, and processed in different countries and regions. We strictly comply with relevant laws, regulations, and requirements concerning personal information protection. The applicable laws and regulations in the country or region where we operate may differ from those in the country or region where you reside. Therefore, to ensure personal information security, we may transfer your information to the countries or regions where we operate to facilitate our operations. Regardless of where your information is stored, we always aim to provide comprehensive protection for your personal information.
Specifically, personal information collected and generated within China will be stored and processed in data centers in mainland China unless applicable law permits cross-border data transfer.
- Commitment of the entire SEMS team to protect your privacy
To ensure the security of your personal data, we have communicated privacy and security guidelines to the entire SEMS team and strictly implemented privacy protection measures within the team.
- Retention period
SES will retain data related to your access to SEMS and your account data until you delete your account data or request deletion of your personal information, except where we have a legal basis to extend the retention period. During the time that the relationship between you and us is established, SES will retain your information for the longest period possible and, after this relationship ends, to the optimal extent permitted, we will retain your information for the longest period possible for the purposes stated in the notice. We will delete your IP address after the session ends. Written law may require SES to retain certain information for a certain period (e.g., six to ten years for tax and accounting purposes). If not, SES may retain data for a reasonable period after the end of any relationship with you to meet legal procedures or manage its business operations (e.g., the standard retention period is three years starting from the end of the year when the relevant data is processed).
- How we handle children’s personal information
Our products, websites, and services are mainly intended for adults. Children should not create their own accounts as personal information owners without the consent of their parents or guardians. Regarding children’s personal information collected with parental consent, we will use or disclose such information only when permitted by law, with explicit consent from the parents or guardians of the child, or as necessary to protect the child. If we discover that we have collected children’s personal information without obtaining prior permission from their parents, we will delete the related data as soon as possible.
- How we update this policy
From time to time, we may amend the terms of this privacy policy, and such amendments will form an integral part of this privacy policy and have the same legal effect. We will not reduce the rights you enjoy under this policy without your explicit consent. We will remind you of any updates to this privacy policy through public announcements or other appropriate means to ensure that you know the latest version of this privacy policy. In the cases mentioned above, if you continue to use our services, you will be deemed to have agreed to accept the revised policy and be bound by it.
- Contact Us
If you have any questions or suggestions about the privacy policy, you can contact us in the Feedback or Customer Service section after logging into the SEMS app.
You can also notify us in the following ways:
Address: No. 83 Xuan Quynh Street, Hanoi
Email address: info@ses-tech.vn
Customer service phone number: 02466735568