Smart Appliance Privacy Policy

Disclaimer, Terms & Conditions (these “Terms”)
Last updated: 21 Sep, 2022
Please read these Terms carefully before using the mobile app "Towngas Smart Appliances" (the “App”).
By downloading or using the App, you are deemed to have accepted and bound by these Terms. If you do not accept these Terms in part or in whole, please do not access the App or use any of the services available at the App.
The App is offered to you for your own personal use and shall not be used for any commercial, illegal or unauthorised purpose.
All App materials including, without limitation, marks, names, logos, source code, design, text, artwork, photography, graphics, sounds, commercials and the selection and arrangement thereof ("Content") are either the copyright of The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Ltd. ("Towngas") with ALL RIGHTS RESERVED or licensed to Towngas for the use on the App. You are not allowed to copy, download, distribute, publish or modify the App, any of the Content or Towngas’ trademarks in any way without the prior written consent of Towngas. You are also not allowed to (including attempt to) extract the source code of the App. The App itself and all the intellectual property rights now known or hereafter derived, conceived, invented or created in and/or related to it shall belong exclusively to Towngas on a worldwide and perpetual basis.
Towngas is committed to ensuring that the App is as useful and efficient as possible. For that reason, Towngas reserves the right to make changes to the App or to charge for its services, at any time and for any reason.
For safety purpose, in the event of gas leakage or suspicion of gas leakage, you must stop using the App immediately and report such incident to the relevant authority(ies).
In respect of any materials and/or information (other than personal data) which you submit to Towngas in the App, you thereby grant Towngas a licence to use such information or materials for any purpose which it deems necessary, including but not limited to the copying, transmission, distribution and publication thereof, unless restricted by law. You agree Towngas shall not be under any obligation of confidentiality to you regarding any of such information or materials unless otherwise agreed in a separate agreement between you and Towngas or required by law. 
The App is provided on an "as is" basis and is subject to change without notice.
 
Towngas gives no warranty or indemnity of any kind, whether implied, express or statutory, including but without limitation to the merchantability and fitness of the App for any particular purpose or accuracy or completeness of responses, results, workmanlike effort, freedom of viruses or other harmful elements, and lack of negligence, all with regard to the App. Some information and materials contained in the App has been provided by or taken from third party sources which Towngas believes to be reliable. Towngas has not verified and does not warrant or represent that such information and materials are accurate, complete or fair. Geographic and statistic are in certain cases only presented in approximate, summary or simplified form and may be subject to change overtime.
To the fullest extent permitted by law:

• Towngas disclaims and makes no representation and warranty as to all liability whatsoever, whether arising in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise in relation to the App;
• all implied warranties relating to the App, including (without limitation) any warranty as to accuracy, completeness, merchantability, freedom from virus, Trojan horses, software bombs or similar items or other harmful elements, satisfactory quality and performance, as between Towngas and you, hereby excluded. Towngas accepts no responsibility for any technical failure of the internet and/or the App; or any damage or injury to users or their equipment as a result of or relating to their use of the App; and,
• Towngas excludes liability for any direct, indirect, consequential, special or incidental damage, loss or expense, whether caused by negligence or otherwise, which has arisen directly or indirectly/ from your use of or reliance on the performance of, and any information or material contained in the App or in any site owned or operated by and third party accessed using a reference from the App whether by hypertext link, recommendation or otherwise. Towngas’ inclusion of recommendations in any type and by any mean does not imply any endorsement of any information and material on linked sites.

The App is only auxiliary and applies only to designated cooking appliances, you shall not rely on the App as accurate, adequate or complete. Towngas expressly disclaim liability for inaccuracy, errors and omissions in its performance, information and material provided in the App.
You hereby agree to fully and effectively indemnify Towngas against any action, liability, costs, claim, loss, damages, proceedings or expenses (including but not limited to legal fees, costs and expenses on a full indemnity basis) suffered or incurred by Towngas arising of which is directly or indirectly related to, (a) your access to and/or use of this App except where you fully complied with any guidelines, procedures or instructions relating to the proper use of this App from time to time notified to you by Towngas whether on this App or otherwise and have exercises reasonable care in using this App; and (b) any breach or non-observance by you of any of these Terms.
 
Towngas may terminate these Terms, your use and/or access to the App at any time with or without cause or notice and reserves the rights in its discretion to change any information or material contained in the App and these Terms.
These Terms are governed by the laws of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and you agree that any dispute shall be subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Hong Kong. The content and services provided by the App may be restricted in certain jurisdictions by law, it is your responsibility to find out what those restrictions are and to observe them.
In case of any inconsistency or conflict between the English and Chinese versions, the English version shall prevail.
 
© All rights reserved.
The Hong Kong And China Gas Company Limited
 
 
Personal Information Collection Statement & Privacy Policy
The main provisions of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (the "Ordinance") came into force on 20 December 1996.
This Statement sets out the obligations and policies of The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited (the "Company") under the Ordinance.
 
Personal Data
The Company keeps personal details of its customers on file such as names, addresses, One-off access of current location of your device and gas appliances, cooking activities, ID numbers, telephone numbers, account numbers and information relating to gas consumption and billing, device information (e.g. operating system), settings and usage of the mobile app “Towngas Smart Appliances” (the “App”) (e.g. cookies, browsing histories) together with other information which may be necessary for the provision of the Company's services and the App.
When you access or use the App, the Company may use cookies, beacons and/or other available unique application settings and usage tools to identify your device and browsing activities for operating, managing and improving the App. In order for the App to work properly, it is not possible to disable these tools. If you do not agree to our use of these tools, you should not use the App.
 Customers are required to supply the Company with this kind of data in connection with the opening or operation of gas accounts, and when the Company provides other related facilities and services.
 
Purpose
The purposes for which data may be used include:

• provision, operation, administration, management and improvement of the App (including, without limitation, by or through use of customer research, profiling, surveys, or other statistical tools);
• the daily operation of the Company's services and processing applications or requests relating to the Company's products, facilities and services;
• opening and maintaining gas accounts for customers;
• providing after-sales and maintenance services;
• conducting customer, product, facility and service surveys (v) direct marketing of products, facilities and services and appeals for donation (please see further details in the section entitled "Use of Your Personal Data in Direct Marketing below);
• handling customer complaints and enquiries;
• calculating any amount of indebtedness owing to or from customers, and collecting debts from customers;
• making disclosure according to the requirements of any law, regulations, codes of conduct or guidelines applicable to any member of the Group (defined below); and,
• any other directly related matters. Without such data, the Company may not be able to provide services to its customers.

The Company will fully protect your right to know and obtain the customer's explicit authorization before using the relevant authorization. The APP needs to use the location authorization. This authorization is used to obtain your WIFI information. If it is not authorized, your WIFI information will not be obtained and it should be input by manual entry.
 
Location
To provide the function of device tracking, the app collects location information and continues to collect it when the app is closed or not in use.
To get more geographically relevant information, the APP gives you the option to share your location. The APP won't allow to access your location without your permission; The APP uses Google Location Services to estimate your location. The information that APP sends to Google Location Services may include:

• The Wi-Fi routers closest to you
• Cell IDs of the cell towers closest to you
• The strength of your Wi-Fi or cell signal
• The IP address that is currently assigned to your device

 
If the relevant information is not provided, the company may not be able to provide services to you.
 
Transfer of Personal Data
Personal data of customers held by the Company will be kept confidential but the Company may provide such information to the following persons (whether within or outside Hong Kong) except that the Company has no current intention to transfer customer data to another person for it to use in direct marketing:

• subsidiaries and associated companies of the Company (the Company and all its subsidiaries and associated companies collectively called the "Group");
• any agent, contractor or third party service provider services to the Group in connection with the operation of the Company's business;
• the media (only in relation to the handling of customer complaints and enquiries referred to the Company by the media);
• any person to whom any Group member is under an obligation or is otherwise to discloe according to any law, regulations, codes of conduct or guidelines applicable to any Group member expected to make; and,
• any person who owes a duty of confidentiality to any Group member (e.g. professional advisers of the Group).

 
Use of Your Personal Data in Direct Marketing
The Company is allowed to use your personal data in direct marketing only if you consent or do not object. In connection with direct marketing, the Company intends:

• to use your name, contact details, customer and profiling information service portfolio information on gas consumption and (including information on gas consumption and billing) held by the Company from time to time in direct marketing;and,
• to market the following classes of products, facilities, services and subjects which may be offered or arranged by any member of the Group or business partners with which any member of the Group conducts cross or joint marketing activities:

1. gas supply and related products, facilities and services (including after-sales and maintenance services);
2. household gadgets, cookware, kitchenware, appliances and furnishings;
3. restaurants, food and beverages;
4. personal or household insurance products and services;
5. contests, lucky draws, events and/or activities organised or sponsored by any member of the Group (including cooking classes, beverage making classes, workshops on handmade products, certificate courses, product demonstrations and members' activities relating to membership programs offered by any member of the Group;
6. environmentally friendly and health products;
7. lifestyle products; and,
8. donations and contributions for charitable and/or non-profit making purposes.

If you do NOT wish the Company to use your personal data in direct marketing, you may exercise your opt-out right.
You may opt out at the time you registered for the Company's services.
You may also write to the Company's Data Protection Officer at the address below or send to webmaster@towngas.com or call the Company at 2880 6988 stating your gas account number and other necessary particulars to opt out from direct marketing at any time. The Company will then cease to use your personal data in direct marketing. Processing of such request is free of charge.
 
Access to and Correction of Personal Data 
Customers have the right under the Ordinance:
- to check whether the Company holds records of their personal data
- to obtain a copy of that data
- to correct any data which is inaccurate
 
Requests for access to data or correction of data should be made in writing to:
 
Data Protection Officer
The Hong Kong and China Gas
Company Limited
13/F, 363 Java Road, North Point,
Hong Kong.
 
Customers may be asked to pay a reasonable handling charge to cover data access processing.
 
Retention of Personal Data
The Company keeps personal data for such period that is necessary for the fulfillment of the purposes for which the data was collected or as required or permitted by applicable laws.
 
Security
The Company takes all reasonably practical measures to protect personal data, whether stored physically or electronically, and prevent unauthorized or accidental access, processing, erasure, loss or use (including transfer). Personal data is stored under lock, encrypted or password-protected as necessary. When the Company engages a data processor to process personal data on its behalf, contractual or other means are adopted to prevent unauthorized or accidental access, processing, erasure, loss or use (including transfer) of the data transferred to the data processor.
The App may contain hypertext links to third parties’ platforms/ information/ materials. Please refer to those third parties' privacy policies to protect your own privacy. In the event that we receive your personal data (if any) from any of these third parties, we will treat your personal data so obtained subject to the provisions of this Statement.
(If there is any inconsistency or conflict between the English version and Chinese version of this Statement, the English version shall prevail.)
 
The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited