Merz respects your privacy. This privacy policy describes how and for what purposes we collect, use, disclose, store and otherwise process your personal information through this website. Merz will not use or share your personal information with anyone except as described in this policy. We urge you to read this policy so that can participate in protecting your own personal information.

Personal Information¹

Personal information refers to all kinds of information related to identified or identifiable natural persons recorded by electronic or other means, excluding the information handled anonymously.  such as your name, address, contact information, occupation, employment details, and, in some cases, IP address or mobile device identifier.

Merz collects information about you so that we can provide you information about Merz and improve your experience of our website. For example, where permitted, we may ask if you would like to receive information about Merz, our products or promotions, in which case we may ask you for personal information such as your name, mailing address or email address. If you provide Merz with another person’s personal information, you represent to Merz that you are duly authorized by that person to provide his/her personal information to Merz subject to the terms of this privacy policy. You shall hold Merz harmless from any claim from that person as a result of Merz’s collection, use and disclosure of that person’s personal information.

We may also collect sensitive information, such as health related information, racial or ethnic origin, political or religious beliefs, or membership of a professional or trade association/union. Merz will only collect any such sensitive information when it has informed you the purpose of collecting the sensitive information and obtained your separate consent to do so, or where required or permitted by law. In providing your consent, you consent to Merz collecting, transferring, disclosing, storing and processing the information in accordance with this policy and the terms of any consent you provide. To protect your privacy, you should not provide us with any information that is not specifically requested.

Merz also automatically collects technical information when you visit our websites such as your Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, internet browser type, browser language, and the date and time of your visit. Gathering this information helps protect the security of our websites and helps us understand aggregate statistical information regarding how our website is used.

Cookies

One way that we collect information is through session cookies. A “cookie” is a unique numeric code that we transfer to your computer so that we can remember your preferences, operate the website with limited interruption and recognize you as a return visitor. In addition, we may use cookies to collect anonymous, aggregate information regarding website use generally so that we can improve our website design and your experience. Most browsers automatically accept cookies. However, you may set your browser to alert you when a cookie is being sent so that you can block them if you wish. If you choose to limit cookies, some of our website functionality may be limited.

¹ The term “Personal Information” (or “Personal Data”, as the case may be) has the meaning as defined in the local privacy or data protection legislation of the country where you reside.

Google Analytics

Where applicable, Merz website may use Google Analytics, a web analytics service of Google Inc., (“Google”). Google Analytics uses cookie text files to analyze how our websites are used. Google uses the information stored on these cookies to compile reports on website activities and to provide further services related to the use of the website. Google may also transfer this information to third parties if required to do so by law or if third parties process this information on behalf of Google.

You can object to information collection and storage by Google Analytics at any time by downloading and installing a browser deactivation add-on. This prevents Google Analytics from storing and processing information about your website visits.

Google Fonts

Where applicable, we use Google fonts to make our website faster and more responsive. Google Fonts is an unauthenticated service. No cookies are sent by website visitors to Google Fonts. In order to serve fonts as quickly and efficiently as possible with the fewest requests, Google caches all requests made to its servers so that your browser only contacts Google Fonts when it needs to. The result is that website visitors send very few requests to Google. Google does log records of the font file requests, and access to this information is on a need-to-know basis and kept secure. Google Fonts also keeps aggregated usage numbers to track how popular font families are.

Social Media

Our websites include social media features, such as the social media share button. These features may collect your IP address and which page you are visiting on our site, and may set a cookie to enable the feature to function properly. Social media features and widgets are either hosted by a third-party or hosted directly on our site. Your interactions with these features are governed by the privacy policy of the organization providing it. For example, if you create or log into your account through a third- party social networking site, we may have access to certain information from that site, such as your name, account information and friends, in accordance with the authorization procedures determined by such third-party social networking site.

Contact Me

If you complete a contact form asking for us to send you information about Merz products, for any query(ies), or for the purposes as consented by you, we will store the information you send us about yourself. We will only use this personal information for the purposes you indicate on the web contact form.

Co-branding

Some Merz websites or services may be co-branded and offered in conjunction with another company, distributor or other business partner. If you use such websites or services, both Merz and partner may receive personal information collected via that co-branded website or service. 

Sharing Your Personal Information

Merz may share your personal data with other Merz companies for internal communication purposes and also for the other purposes as specified in this Policy.

Merz does not sell, trade, rent, or share your personal information with third-party organizations other than those disclosed in this privacy policy. For example, we will only send your contact information to physicians in our network if you request to receive additional information from them. Merz may also share personal information with authorized third-party service providers that perform services for us to help us manage our business and provide goods and services to our customers. For example, we may use service providers to host, maintain, and operate the websites, manage social media profiles, send communications, conduct research, manage and analyze information, and perform other services for us. If we share your personal information with third-party service providers, we do not authorize them to use or disclose it for any purpose other than the intended purpose.

Other Uses of Personal Information

In addition to the uses described above, Merz uses your personal information to provide you products and services and to personalize our offerings to you. We also use your personal information to support our business functions, such as fraud prevention, marketing, and legal functions. To do this, we combine personal and non-personal information, collected online and offline, including information from third party sources. Merz’s use of your personal information may include:

• Fulfill Requests: To fulfill your requests for products and services and communicate with you about those requests;
• Understand Customer Behavior: To better understand customer behavior so that we may improve our marketing and advertising efforts and to improve the distribution of our products and services;
• Personalize Offerings: To help us personalize our service offerings, websites, mobile services, and advertising;
• Protection: To protect the security and integrity of our websites, mobile services, and our business;
• Legal: To comply with legal and/or regulatory requirements;
• Responding to Customer: To respond to reviews, comments, or other feedback you provide us; and
• Employment Applications: In connection with a job application or inquiry, you may provide us with information about yourself, including your educational background or and other information, including your ethnicity where required or permitted by law. We may use this information throughout Merz, its subsidiaries and affiliates, and its joint ventures for the purpose of employment consideration.
  

Security

Security is important to Merz. Merz will take appropriate measures to protect the security of your personal information. Merz uses technical and physical safeguards to protect the security of your personal information from unauthorized disclosure, this includes developing internal management systems and operating procedures to ensure that only authorized personnel have access to personal information. We may use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) technology or such other encryption technology to keep all your information secure. Nevertheless, such security measures cannot prevent all loss, misuse or alteration of personal information and we are not responsible for any damages or liabilities relating to any such incidents to the fullest extent permitted by law. Where required under law, we will notify you of any such loss, misuse or alteration of personal information that may affect you so that you can take the appropriate actions for the due protection of your rights. Merz also reviews its security procedures periodically to consider appropriate new technology and updated methods.

Information Retention and Storage

For Merz’s business partner(s), Merz retains your information for business purposes, for as long as your account is active, or as long as is reasonably necessary to provide you with our products and services. For any party other than Merz’s business partner(s), Merz retains your information if you have contacted Merz on any query(ies), or for the purposes as consented by you, for as long as reasonably necessary for the said purposes. Merz will also retain your information as reasonably necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements. The criteria we use to determine the retention period include: the time for which your information needs to be retained for the purpose of processing; whether users agree to a longer retention period; whether there are special requirements for data retention by laws or contracts, etc. And as long as your account is necessary to enable you to use our official services, we will retain your registration data. You can also choose to cancel your account, after which you will no longer have access to our official services. Once your account is deleted, we will retain your information for a period in accordance with the applicable laws, and upon the expiration of the retention period, we will remove or anonymize your information. Please note that once your cancel your account, you will not be able to login and use our official services and loose access to the data in your account, therefore please exercise the cancellation with caution. 

Collection of Information from Children

Merz recognizes the importance of protecting the privacy and safety of children. Our website and services are primarily directed towards the general audience and are not directed towards children. We do not knowingly collect information about children under the age of 18 (or the age of “child” as defined in the local legislation) however in the event where we may collect information, we will make sure parental consent is achieved beforehand. A parent or guardian of a child may contact the Privacy Officer at privacyapac@merz.com¹ to request that we delete such information. If we found that we have collected your information from minors without prior verifiable consent from their parents or statutory guardians, we will try to delete the relevant data as soon as possible.

International Transfer of Personal Information

Since we are a multinational corporation, where it is necessary and appropriate and in order to better provide services for you or for essential management purposes, at times, personal data may be transferred between countries (which includes the transfer of your personal data to other Merz companies or service providers located outside your home country). If we transfer your personal data to countries that do not have adequate data protection standards, we will proceed to do so by taking appropriate measures to ensure adequate data protection standards in line with the relevant data protection laws. We will also apply protection measures to these personal data where necessary and appropriate, which in some cases may include entering into various standard contractual clauses with the recipient and ensure compliance with the special requirements on transfers of personal data to such countries. If your information are not anonymized prior to transferring abroad, we shall obtain your prior separate consent.

Changes to the Information Privacy Policy

Merz may review and update this Privacy Policy periodically without prior notice. Your continued use of our official services shall be deemed as you have thoroughly read, understood and agreed to be bound by the updated Privacy Policy.

Access to your information and complaints

If you wish to access your personal information, correct the information we hold about you or complain about how your personal information has been handled, you can contact us by sending an email to the Privacy Officer(s) at the following email addresses:

We will endeavor to respond to all reasonable requests in a timely manner.

²For residents in Australia, please note that there are some exceptions to your right to gain access to your information as provided under the Australian Privacy Principles Guidelines, including but not limited to: providing access would have an unreasonable impact upon the privacy of other individuals; or the request for access is frivolous or vexatious; or the information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings between you and us, and the information would not be accessible by the process of discovery in those proceedings; or providing access would be unlawful. If you do not receive a response to your request in a reasonable time frame or are otherwise unhappy with our handling of your request, you may lodge a complaint with The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. Details of how to make a complaint can be found at www.oaic.gov.au

³For residents in New Zealand, please note that under the Privacy Act 1993, if you are not satisfied with our response to any privacy-related concern you may have, you can contact the Privacy Commissioner. Details of how to make a complaint can be found at https://www.privacy.org.nz

Disclaimer

We shall not assume legal liabilities under the following circumstances:

1) Any leakage of Personal Information resulting from the disclosure of your password to or sharing of your account with others by yourself;

2) Any leakage, loss, embezzlement or alteration of Personal Information caused by hacking, computer virus intrusion or seizure, government control, or other force majeure;

3) Any legal disputes and consequences arising from Personal Information disclosure by other websites or systems linked to the official services;

4) The Personal Information disclosed by our official services in accordance with the provisions of laws, regulations or rules, or for public safety purposes.

Effective Date

This privacy policy was last modified on 1 September 2022.

Merz contact information

If you have any questions or comments about this privacy policy, how we use your personal information, or our relationship with third-parties, please contact the Privacy Officer(s) at the email addresses as listed under the heading “Access to your information and complaints”.