OUR PRIVACY STATEMENT

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

Mars, Incorporated  
c/o: Chief Privacy Officer  
1676 International Drive, 10th Floor
McLean, Virginia 22102
Contact: privacy@effem.com   

The Mars representative in the EU is:

Mars Netherlands B.V. 
c/o: Chief Privacy Officer 
Taylorweg 5, 5466 AE Veghel 
Noord-Brabant Netherlands 
Contact: privacy@effem.com   

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

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

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

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

When does this Privacy Statement not apply?  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mars, Incorporated  
c/o: Chief Privacy Officer  
6885 Elm Street
McLean, Virginia 22101
Contact: privacy@effem.com   

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

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

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

Additional Data Collected from Job Applicants  

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

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

Other Data We May Collect and Sources of that Data  

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

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

What are cookies?  

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

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

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

Different types of cookies used by us

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What are web beacons and how do we use them?  

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

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