Privacy & Cookie Notice

We take privacy seriously. This notice tells you who we are, what information about you we collect, and what we do with it. We will use information about you only in accordance with applicable data protection laws. Click on “find out more” in each section for further information.

For what purposes do we process your personal data?

Who are we?

We are a member of Philip Morris International. Our details (name, address, etc.) will have been given to you separately at the time of (or to confirm) the collection of information about you, for example, in a notice on an app or a website, or in an e-mail, containing a link to this notice.

How do we collect information about you?

We may collect information about you in various ways.

  • You may provide us with information directly (e.g. filling in a form; making a call to us; registering to receive PMI press releases or e-mail alerts; or submitting content to a digital PMI touchpoint).
  • We may collect information automatically (e.g. when you use a PMI app or website).
  • We may acquire information from third parties (e.g. contact details from creative and marketing agencies, or publicly-available information on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter).

In this notice, we refer to all the methods by which you are in contact with us as “PMI touchpoints”. PMI touchpoints include both physical (for example, events), and digital (for example, apps and websites).

What information about you do we collect?

We may collect various types of information about you:

  • information necessary to arrange your attendance and accommodation at an event
  • information required for your participation in activities at an event
  • information necessary to provide you with press releases or e-mail alerts
  • information you give us in forms or surveys
  • information you give us when you submit content to a digital touchpoint
  • information about your visits to our events or PMI touchpoints
  • information you give us in communications you have with us in connection with an event or a campaign
  • information about your preferences and interests
  • information necessary to verify your identity and age
  • information about your experiences at our events, receiving our communications or our services

For what purposes do we use information about you, and on what legal basis?

In this section, we describe the purposes for which we use personal information. However, this is a global notice, and where the laws of a country restrict or prohibit certain activities described in this notice, we will not use information about you for those purposes in that country.

Subject to the above, we use information about you for the following purposes:

  • To comply with regulatory obligations, such as (where appropriate) verifying your age and identity
  • To administer our contract for user generated content with you (where you submit content to a digital PMI touchpoint)
  • To provide you with press releases, e-mail alerts, and newsletters
  • To enable you to use PMI touchpoints, and to customize your experiences of PMI touchpoints
  • To understand whether you are still engaged with our communications and whether you wish to continue to receive them
  • For general business administration, and to support all the above, including administering your accounts, enabling you to use PMI touchpoints, corresponding with you, managing your appointments with us or with someone supporting our services, customizing your experiences of PMI touchpoints, fraud prevention (for example in the context of our events and surveys, to ensure that they are not taken more than once by the same person), to provide security at events, and administration and troubleshooting
  • For business analytics, statistical or scientific purposes, including improving PMI touchpoints and services, and the information that we (or our affiliates) provide to those interested in our companies
  • For other purposes that we notify you of, or will be clear from the context, at the point information about you is first collected

The legal basis for our use of information about you is one of the following (which we explain in more detail in the “find out more” section):

  • compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject;
  • the performance of a contract to which you are a party;
  • a legitimate business interest that is not overridden by interests you have to protect the information;
  • where none of the above applies, or where law requires it, your consent (which we will ask for before we process the information).

Who do we share your information with, and for what purposes?

We may share information about you with:

  • PMI affiliates;
  • third parties who provide PMI affiliates or you with services, including travel agencies who will use the data for the purposes of arranging or facilitating travel and accommodation at events;
  • PMI affiliates’ carefully selected business partners (in areas connected with our events) so that they can contact you with offers that they think may interest you, in accordance with your preferences; and
  • other third parties, where required or permitted by law.

We share information about you with others only in accordance with applicable laws. Thus, where law requires your consent, we will first ask for it.

Where might information about you be sent?

As with any multinational organization, PMI affiliates transfer information globally. Accordingly, information about you may be transferred globally (for example, if you are in the European Economic Area (“EEA”), your information may be transferred outside the EEA; if you are in Australia, you information may be transferred outside Australia).

How do we protect information about you?

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personal information that we hold from unauthorized disclosure, use, alteration or destruction. Where appropriate, we use encryption and other technologies that can assist in securing the information you provide. We also require our service providers to comply with strict data privacy and security requirements.

How long will information about you be kept?

We will retain information about you for the period necessary to fulfil the purposes for which the information was collected. After that, we will delete it. The period will vary depending on the purposes for which the information was collected. Note that in some circumstances, you have the right to request us to delete the information. Also, we are sometimes legally obliged to retain the information, for example, for tax and accounting purposes.

What rights and options do you have?

You may have some or all of the following rights in respect of information about you that we hold:

  • request us to give you access to it;
  • request us to rectify it, update it, or erase it;
  • request us to restrict our using it, in certain circumstances;
  • object to our using it, in certain circumstances;
  • withdraw your consent to our using it;
  • data portability, in certain circumstances;
  • opt out from our using it for direct marketing; and
  • lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority in your country (if there is one).

We offer you easy ways to exercise these rights, such as “unsubscribe” links, or giving you a contact address, in messages you receive.

Some mobile applications we offer might also send you push messages, for instance about the events. You can disable these messages through the settings in your phone or the application.

Country-specific additional points

According to which country you are in, you may have some additional rights.

Who should you contact with questions?

If you have any questions, or wish to exercise any of your rights, you can find contact details for the relevant PMI affiliate, and if applicable data protection officer, here. Contact details will also be given in any communications that a PMI affiliate sends you.

If your country has a data protection authority, you have a right to contact it with any questions or concerns. If the relevant PMI affiliate cannot resolve your questions or concerns, you also have the right to seek judicial remedy before a national court.

Changes to this notice

We may update this notice (and any supplemental privacy notice), from time to time. Where the law requires it, we will notify you of the changes; further, where the law requires it, we will also obtain your consent to the changes.

First version: 11 March 2024