Cookies and Related Technologies
A cookie identifies your computer or mobile device. It does not show who you are by name, but does let us know you or someone in your household used the same computer or mobile device that visited a website earlier and can in some situations be connected to a name or a household. It will usually be a file named something like—abc@example.com.txt. If you open one of these files, it will show some random letters and numbers like: “HMP1example.com/04058205*”.
There are different types of cookies. The most common are session cookies, which are temporary. They are used by nearly all websites to allow things like shopping carts to work, even if you aren't logged in to your account. They simply tell the server that all your requests came from the same computer and should be treated as a single visit to a website. These temporary cookies are deleted when your visit is over, or after a period of no activity (when you make no keystrokes or your mouse stops moving, after about 20 minutes or so).
Permanent cookies, also called persistent cookies, are also common. These cookies are used to identify your computer or mobile device over multiple visits to a website. These are the ones that handle your request to "Remember Me" or "Keep Me Logged In" to a website or app.
These permanent cookies are also used to send you advertisements based on the websites you visit and the content you view during those visits.
They are also used to tell us how long you stay on a site, how you move through the site, and other activities like the content you view or the mouse clicks that you make. They are also used to count the number of visitors to a site, as well as how often returning visitors come back. Website owners use this information to understand how well their websites are doing and to make decisions about how to design the site.
You can choose whether to accept cookies by editing your browser settings. For more information about cookies, please visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org/.
Types of Cookies We Use
For a list of our major technology partners for our Mattel Sites, and the choices and controls they may offer about collection and use of information, read the THIRD-PARTY TECHNOLOGY LIST.
Required/Strictly Necessary Cookies. They make our websites work. Without them, you may not be able to view web pages and video content or buy something because the ability to store your information in a shopping cart has been turned off.
Functional Cookies. They make our websites work better. For example, when you choose to read a site in Spanish on your first visit, the next time you come back the site will appear automatically in the Spanish language. Not having to select a language preference every time makes it more user-friendly for you.
Analytics Cookies. They are a type of functional cookie that tells us how well our websites are working. For example, we can learn how many visitors to our websites buy something and how many leave without viewing or clicking on anything.
Advertising Cookies. They tell us what you are interested in based on the websites you visit and the products you buy. That information allows us to send you ads, videos, and other content that better fit the things you like or need. They also allow us to limit the number of times you see the same advertisement.
Other Technologies We May Use
Proximity-Based Beacons. These are small, wireless transmitters that use low energy Bluetooth technology to send signals to other smart devices in their proximity and can be used by mobile applications you have installed on your phone to help locate a device’s location. We may use beacons when your device interacts with the Services, typically through a mobile application, to give you information about products as you walk through a store. Beacons only talk to your device one-way when you get close enough and only after you have given permission in your device settings.
Pixels. These are small graphic images or other web programming code (also known as web beacons or tags) that may be included in our web pages and email messages. These and similar technologies may be used by us and our third-party providers for a number of purposes, including to deliver advertising cookies to your computer or for other marketing and targeted advertising purposes, monitor website activity like counting visitors to the Services, monitor how users navigate the Services, or how many particular products were viewed, make logging into our websites easier, and monitor whether you open our emails or click any links included in our email.
APIs and SDKs. We use tools provided in Software Development Kits (“SDKs”), such as embedded scripts, to collect information through mobile devices, such as the hardware model, operating system and version, identification numbers assigned to your mobile device, such as the ID for Advertising (IDFA) on Apple devices, and the Advertising ID on Android devices, mobile network data, and website usage behavior. SDKs are software packages that contain a set of tools that can be used to help build applications and implement new features in existing apps including those that collect data from your device.
In addition, we may use a variety of other technologies that collect similar data for security, fraud detection, and maintenance purposes.
Interest-Based Advertising/Third-party Advertising & Analytics Companies & Similar Third Parties
We may use third-party business partners, such as analytics companies, ad agencies, network advertisers, and others who provide us data about the Services, users, and our advertisements (such as what products and services you’re interested in based on the websites you visit, the content you view online, and the products you buy). These partners deliver ads to you on behalf of the Services and elsewhere online. We and our third-party business partners collect certain data about your visits to and activity on the Services and other websites and services, and may use this data to send you ads for products and services that better fit the things you like or need and to assess the effectiveness of our advertising. We may also share (or permit third parties to collect) certain data, such as Device ID/Interaction Information, aggregated or de-identified, pseudonymized or hashed data (including email addresses), with these third parties for similar purposes.
These third-parties may set and access their own tracking technologies on your device (including cookies, pixel tags or other technologies) and may otherwise collect or have access to your personal data over time, including about your visits to the Services as well as other websites and online services, some of which may be personal information or personal data under various local laws. Companies that we share data with, including ad agencies and networks, may use the data, often in combination with their existing data, in order to present more relevant advertisements that may be of interest to you, and to help us and third parties to do the same.
Here are some examples of our interest-based advertising practices:
- We Learn About People Who Have Similar Interests. We may learn that people who buy children’s clothing also buy toys and games for children within that same age range. Knowing this, we may send ads for toys and games to people who bought children’s clothing because they behave like or “look like” shoppers who tend to also buy toys and games in the same age range.
- We Combine Information About You from Many Different Sources. We combine information from many different sources, such as how much money you make, your age, gender, and number of people in your family, and the things you buy on and offline. For example, if we know what you have bought from in-store loyalty card swipes, we can send you online information about the things you have already shown interest in offline. In this way, your experience as a consumer is more personal across all your buying channels.
- We Know You Across All of Your Devices. Linking together your computers, tablets, and phones allows you to log into your account from all your devices or pick up where you left off in a video or movie that you were viewing on a different device. For example, you might search for our entertainment content on your laptop, click on a Google search result link which we have sponsored, and then later be able to purchase that same product after seeing an ad on your mobile phone.
- We Match You Across all Accounts. We may share your email address with social media companies or use their technology on our websites so that we can communicate with you when you are on social media. We also do this matching to learn if you saw our ad on social media, and if you clicked on it, and then came to our website to buy something. This helps us know if we should continue to buy ads on social media.
Our Tools. You can control how your personal information is used for interest-based advertising by visiting the Mattel Privacy Choice Portal. You can also opt out of certain cookies by modifying your cookie settings. You can also go to https://globalprivacycontrol.org/ to download the GPC web browser plugin that tells our website your privacy preferences for cookies. We will honor your privacy rights according to the GPC signal you set. We will honor your privacy rights according to the GPC signal you set.
NAI/DAA Opt-Out. Some of the companies we use may be members of the Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”) or Digital Advertising Alliance (“DAA”). The NAI provides information regarding targeted advertising and the opt-out procedures of NAI members, including opt-out mechanisms for web browsers, mobile and other connected devices, and a tool to opt out from participating NAI members using your hashed email address for interest-based advertising. You may also want to visit the DAA's website, which provides information regarding targeted advertising and offers an opt-out for DAA-participating companies. To learn more about interest-based advertisements from participating third parties in Canada, please visit the Canadian DAA online choice page at https://youradchoices.ca/en/tools.
Google Analytics. We use Google Analytics, which use cookies and similar technologies to collect and analyze information about the use of the Services and report on activities and trends. The Services may also collect information about the use of other websites, apps, and online services. You can learn about Google's practices, and opt out of them by downloading the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.
Please note that opting out through these mechanisms does not opt you out of being served advertising from Mattel. You will continue to see non-targeted advertisements from many companies, possibly even Mattel, while online. In other words, in the case you have expressed your opt-out by the above methods, some online ads will still appear, but these will not benefit from the information Mattel could have otherwise used that is specific to you or your browsing history. The same way a printed newspaper advertisement addresses a large number of readers generally and no one reader in particular, your advertisements after opt-out will be general in nature and are placed by Mattel to advertise to the general public. Your opt-out choices are also browser and device specific; if you disable your cookies or upgrade your browser after opting out, or if you use different computers or browsers, you will need to indicate your opt-out choices across those other computers and browsers.
Other Websites & Mobile Application Content
Precise Location Data. We always get your permission before knowing the exact location of your device (also called “precise geolocation”). You may turn off collection of precise location data by adjusting your browser or device settings. Despite this, Mattel may collect and know less specific location information, for example, that your device is anywhere within a broader city, postal code, state or province based on other data we collect, such as IP address, without asking for your permission (called “approximate” or “general location”). For example, we will not seek your permission before knowing you are somewhere in Barcelona, Spain.
Session Replay Technology. Mattel may record your interactions with the Services, such as what pages you visit on the Services, how long you visit those pages, and any links you click or information you provide. We use this information for our internal business purposes, such as for website analytics, to improve the Services and our products and services, and to address functionality issues.
Plugins. They collect and send information back to the company that created them when you have an account with them and are signed into their services. An example of a plugin is the Facebook “Like” button. Plugins function according to the privacy policies and terms of the company that created them, even though they may appear on our Services.
Logins. You may log in to our services using your account with another company such as, for example, “Login with Google.” We have access only to the information you allow us to receive from your account settings with that other company. Like plugins, function according to the privacy policies and terms of the company that created them, even though they may appear on our Services.
User Content. We may offer features where you can submit data to us, including to post or submit, without limitation, information, comments, reviews, messages, text, files, photos, videos, or other content you provide (“User Content”). Your Submission of User Content is governed by our Terms and Conditions. Anything you post publicly becomes public information and others will have access to it and may use it or share it with third parties. We do not control how others who have access to your information may use your posts, videos, photographs, comments, and other content you create and publicly post and the use of your data by third parties is not subject to this Privacy Statement.
Third-party Content and Links. Our Services may include content that is served by someone else or links to third-party content or sites we do not control. The third-party operators and content providers use their own cookies or other tracking technology, and they may independently collect data from or about you. Mattel is not responsible for the privacy policies and terms or practices employed by any third-party.
For a list of our major technology partners for our mobile apps, please see the MOBILE THIRD-PARTY TECHNOLOGY LIST.