Privacy notice and data confidentiality of Mercado Libre

Effective Date: September, 2nd 2022.

You can also check the Chinese version of this Privacy Statement.

1. Who is responsible for the processing of Personal Information and what is the scope of this Privacy Policy?

1.1 This privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”) applies to all Personal Information (as defined in Section 2) processed by us that is provided by or collected from our Users through our Platform (as defined in Section 2), or that we receive through Channels (as defined in Section 2). Please note that, unless expressly stated otherwise, this Privacy Policy shall prevail in the event of any inconsistency between this Privacy Policy and any other privacy policy of Mercado Libre in terms of such Personal Information.

1.2 Please read this Privacy Policy carefully before using the Platform or any Channels or otherwise submitting any Personal Information to Mercado Libre.

1.3 Global Selling, LLC (“Mercado Libre,” “we”, “our”, or “us”) are the controllers with respect to the processing of your Personal Information under this Privacy Policy. Please see Section 14 for details on how to contact us.

1.4 When you use products and/or services of a third party or visit websites, mobile applications and/or services of a third party , the privacy statement or similar policy of such third party will apply to any Personal Information that you provide to the third party. Mercado Libre does not undertake legal liability for any third party’s improper use or disclosure of your Personal Information. Mercado Libre recommends and encourages you to check the privacy policy of the relevant third party when you visit the website, mobile application, and/or services or the social media account of a third party.

1.5 Channels may be offered through third party services, such as Mercado Libre’s brand page on social media platforms. Both the third party service and Mercado Libre may have access to Personal Information through Channels, and Mercado Libre is not responsible the data practices of such third parties.

1.6 Please refer to the relevant additional provisions or disclosures of your country of residence for further information about this Section.

2. Definitions

“Personal Information” refers to information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonable capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly with an individual or, where applicable, household.

“Seller/s” refers to the legal entities (excluding natural persons) that maintain a Seller’s account and/or sell products using the Platform.

“Users” refers to any individuals visiting and/or using Mercado Libre’s Platform or Channels, including Representatives.

“Representatives” refers to, such as shareholders, ultimate beneficiaries or natural persons exercising control, legal representatives, authorized users or contact person of Sellers who interact with Mercado Libre through a Seller’s account or whose information is submitted to Mercado Libre on behalf of a Seller.

“You” refers to Users.

“Platform” refers to the websites and platforms operated by Mercado Libre for online e-commerce transactions available through https://global-selling.mercadolibre.com/, and any related services enabled there to Sellers which at the current stage, only deals with Sellers as opposed to individual Buyers.

“Channels” refers to online channels operated by Mercado Libre.

“Sensitive Personal Information” refers to Personal Information that is considered a sensitive category of information under applicable data protection law or as defined in the relevant country additional provisions or disclosures to this Privacy Policy.

3. What Personal Information do we collect and process?

You agree that the Personal Information Mercado Libre may process includes but is not limited to:

Personal Information you provide to Mercado Libre through the Platform or Channels:
- Contact Information we may collect your Personal Information that you fill in when you contact us or that you otherwise provide us such as country, email, name and phone number
- Account Registration: before registering as a Seller and conducting online transactions on our Platform, Sellers need to create an account. Seller Representatives may need to provide name, nickname, personal image (personal photo or identity card photo), identity card number, phone number, address and email address to Mercado Libre
- Sellers’ Identity Validation and Know-Your-Client Process (“KYC”): for the purpose of KYC, Seller Representatives may need to provide a photo of your ID card, your tax ID, your real-time photo, your name, identification number, email, phone number, address, city or area where you live, gender, date of birth, nationality, shares held in Seller, your office or job title in Seller, and additional statements or representations made to Mercado Libre.
Personal Information Mercado Libre automatically collects when you access and/or use our Platform or Channels:
- Log information: when you use our Platform or Channels, we automatically collect certain information, such as your IP address, traffic data related to the connection, the type of URL, the language used, the date, time and duration of your access, your Media Access Control (MAC) address, your screen resolution, your operating system name and version, device manufacturer and model, internet browser type and version, service provider, and the name and version of the Platform and/or our Channels you are using.
- Cookies, web beacons, pixels and similar technologies: these technologies are used to automatically collect information about you. Please refer to Section 8 for further information about these technologies.
Mercado Libre may receive your Personal Information from other sources, including: public databases, joint marketing partners, social media platforms, people with whom you are friends or otherwise connected with on social media platforms, as well as other third parties. For example, if you elect to connect your social media account to one of Mercado Libre’s accounts and explicitly agree with the social media platform to disclose your details to Mercado Libre (such as name, username, or e-mail), then Mercado Libre may receive and store the Personal Information you have agreed to disclose.

To the extent we combine such third-party sourced information with information under this Privacy Policy, we will treat the combined information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

4. How do we use Personal Information?

4.1 We collect and use Personal Information for purposes in accordance with the practices described in this Privacy Policy, including to open a Seller’s account, provide you and Sellers with access and use of the Platform and Channels, enable Seller´s cross-border transactions with other users of Mercado Libre, operations, and transactions on the Platform, and as otherwise necessary to perform services.

4.2 You understand that we may process your above Personal Information as agreed by you or as otherwise permitted under applicable laws, as follows:

For statistical purposes, calculating usage levels, and helping diagnose server problems with the Platform or Channels as well as to ensure that the Platform or Channels function properly
To allow you to contact and be contacted by other Users through the Platform or Channels, as permitted by the Platform or applicable Channels.
To allow Sellers to post product information and use other services enabling you to post information and materials. You should be aware that the information and materials Sellers provide through these services are open to the public and other people may have access to such information and materials and use them to contact you, message you or for other purposes out of our or your control.
To comply with regulatory requirements. Mercado Libre may need to use your Personal Information to comply with regulatory requirements of the industry, and commerce, tax, finance, auditing, industrial supervision, and other related laws and regulations.
To resolve disputes. Mercado Libre may need to use your Personal Information to handle and resolve legal disputes with you, a Seller or a third party.
To cooperate with law enforcement. Mercado Libre will cooperate with the relevant law enforcement departments or supervisory authorities and any investigations in accordance with relevant applicable laws and regulations, including the jurisdictions where Sellers market their products.
To detect and prevent fraud, abuse and related crimes, to protect the safety of Users and the sustainability of the Platform or Channels, including for KYC purposes.
To promote and advertise the Platform or Channels, and provide personalized services that best suit your or Seller´s needs or interests.
To communicate with you and/or Seller, including transactional and promotional communications.
Where it is necessary for the execution or performance of a contract between you and Mercado Libre;
Where it is necessary for the performance of statutory duties or statutory obligations, or to exercise its rights
Where it is necessary for the response to a public health emergency or for the protection of the life, health, and property safety of a natural person;
For news reporting and supervision by public opinions carried out for the public interest, and the processing of personal information is within a reasonable scope;
Where disclosed to the public by yourself or lawfully disclosed to the public by others, within a reasonable scope in accordance with the provisions of applicable law
In other circumstances stipulated by laws and regulations; and
To fulfill any other purpose at your direction, or with notice to you and your consent, as necessary under applicable laws.

4.3. Notwithstanding the above, we may use information that does not identify you (including Personal information that has been aggregated or de-identified) for any purpose except as prohibited by applicable law.

For information on your rights and choices regarding how we use Personal Information, please see Section 9 below.

5. How do we disclose Personal Information?

We disclose Personal information in accordance with the practices described in this Privacy Policy, to the following categories of parties:

To affiliates that provide the services available through the Platform, that process Personal Information on Mercado Libre´s behalf and/or to help operate the Platform or Channels.
To service providers that assist us, our affiliates or the Sellers or the Buyers in connection with the Platform or Channels, such as helping with transactions between Sellers and the Buyers, cloud hosting or data storage, analytics, consulting, technical support, marketing.
To competent governmental or judicial authorities in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
As requested by you, your Personal Information will be disclosed at your direction or in the way you have explicitly asked us to
We also disclose Personal Information with notice to you and your consent, when different to what is stated in this Privacy Policy.
To business partners and financial or commercial entities with which Mercado Libre has a collaborative or an alliance relationship in order to provide services for to Seller or for the benefit of the Seller (“Partners”).
To participants in the Brand Protection Program of Mercado Libre, in order to give intellectual property rights holders the ability to give notice and take down unauthorized products or fakes commercialized through Mercado Libre. Learn more about this program at: https://global-selling.mercadolibre.com/brandprotection/enforcement (“BPP Members”).
Through developer integrations used by Sellers within the terms and conditions of Mercado Libre Developers Program (https://global-selling.mercadolibre.com/devsite) (“Developers”).
To authorities, amicable compounders, courts or entities that intervene in the resolution of disputes between users or between these and any of the companies of Mercado Libre.
With Sellers’ counterparties (“Buyers”) in order to enable transaction completion and communication between the Seller and said counterparty.
Mercado Libre may disclose your Personal Information at its reasonable discretion to other Users of or third parties when there are sufficient reasons to consider that your or Seller´s activity is suspected of trying or committing a crime or trying to harm other people.
Mercado Libre may disclose your Personal Information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any proposed or actual merger, purchase, sale or any other type of acquisition or business combination of all or any portion of our assets, or transfer of all or a portion of our business to another business.

Notwithstanding the above, we may disclose information that does not identify you (including information that has been aggregated or de-identified) except as prohibited by applicable law.

For information on your rights and choices regarding how we disclose Personal Information, please see Section 9 below.

6. Cross-border transfer of Personal Information

Please be aware that your Personal Information may be transferred, processed, and stored in jurisdictions around the world. These jurisdictions include countries or regions with different levels of data protection from where Personal Information was initially collected. Some of the countries to where we may transfer your Personal Information include Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Colombia and the United States.

Where required by law, we will use appropriate safeguards for the transfer of your Personal Information.

Please refer to the additional provisions or disclosures of your relevant country of residence for further information about the cross-border transfer of your Personal Information. If you have any requests or questions, please contact us by using the information provided in Section 14.

7. How long do we retain your Personal Information?

Mercado Libre will retain your Personal Information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as provided for or permitted under applicable laws or as necessary to comply with our obligations or enforce our rights in accordance with statute of limitations.

8. Cookies and similar technologies

8.1 Cookies are small data files stored on your device that act as a unique tag to identify your browser. For information on how to manage cookies, see Section 8.4below.

Pixels (also known as web beacons) is code embedded in a service that sends information about your use to a server. When you access a service that contains a pixel, the pixel may permit us or a third party to drop or read cookies on your browser. Pixels are used in combination with cookies to track activity by a particular browser on a particular device.

Device Fingerprinting is the process of analyzing and combining sets of data elements from your device’s browser, such as JavaScript objects and installed fonts, to create a “fingerprint” of your device and uniquely identify your browser and device.

8.2 We use the Personal Information collected through these technologies for various purposes, including those set out elsewhere in this Privacy Policy and as follows:

To know the interests and behavior of Users (for example, pages browsed by Users), and give them and/or the Sellers a better service or provide related information
To enforce rules and security of the Platform and Channels.
So that Users do not have to enter their password so frequently during a browsing session, and to account for and corroborate registrations, user activity and other concepts.
To offer a more interactive or personalized experience based on User actions.

8.3 Cookies and other technologies on the Platform and Channels may be provided by third parties or used by advertisers outside Mercado Libre. This Privacy Policy only covers Mercado Libre’s data practices and not those of third parties.

8.4 Most browsers accept cookies by default. You may be able to configure your browser to delete stored cookies, request your approval before storing cookies, or prevent cookies from being stored. This procedure is performed differently from browser to browser and it will be necessary for you to do it for each browser that you use. Below is information on how to set your preferences for certain web browsers:

Note that if you disable cookies, you should bear in mind that you may not be able to use and enjoy all the functionalities offered by Mercado Libre. We are not responsible for any browser settings or the effectiveness of their opt-outs.

In addition, your browser settings may allow you to automatically transmit a “Do Not Track” signal to online services you visit. Note, however, there is no industry consensus as to what site and app operators should do with regard to these signals. Accordingly, unless and until the law is interpreted to require us to do so, we do not monitor or take action with respect to “Do Not Track” signals. For more information on “Do Not Track,” visit http://www.allaboutdnt.com.

9. Your rights and choices

9.1 You may access, update, or remove certain Personal Information that you have provided to us through your Mercado Libre account by, if applicable, visiting Seller´s account settings or by submitting your request as indicated in Section 14 “Contact Us” of this Privacy Policy . Please note that we will retain and use Personal Information about you as provided for in Section 7.

9.2 You can also opt-out of receiving promotional emails from us at any time by following the instructions as provided in emails to click on the unsubscribe link or emailing us at privacy@mercadolibre.com with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject field of the email. Please note that you cannot opt-out of non-promotional emails, such as those about Seller´s account, transactions, servicing, or ongoing business relations. Your opt out is limited to the email address used and will not affect subsequent subscriptions.

9.3 Please note that restricting, deleting or withdrawing your consent on your Personal Information, where applicable, may impact our ability to provide you with access to the Platform or Channels, or to respond to your issues, and may affect the Seller´s availability of the Platform or Channels.

9.4 Please refer to the relevant additional provisions or disclosures of your country of residence for further information about your rights and choices.

10. How is your Personal Information protected?

Mercado Libre has implemented a security program designed to protect the Personal Information against loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration or destruction or damage.

11. Children

The Platform and Channels are not directed toward children, and we do not knowingly collect Personal Information (including as defined by the U.S. Children’s Privacy Protection Act, or “COPPA”) from children. If you are a parent or guardian and believe we have collected personal information from children, contact us at privacy@mercadolibre.com

12. Updates to this Privacy Policy

Our Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time, and the update will take effect when posted online on our Platform. You agree that you will visit the Platform regularly to review and learn about these updates. Your continued use of the Platform or Channels or provision of Personal Information to Mercado Libre after an update means that you have accepted and agreed to the update. Please be sure to review this Privacy Policy regularly to learn about the latest version of this Privacy Policy. If the changes are material, we may provide you additional notice to your email address or through the Platform or Channels.

13. Governing law and dispute resolution

Mercado Libre and you agree that this Privacy Policy shall be interpreted in accordance with the laws provided for in the additional provisions or disclosures of your country of residence below or, if not provided, those set forth in the applicable terms and conditions of the Platform.

14. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our practices in relation to your Personal Information, or if you experience any difficulties accessing the information in this Privacy Policy, please contact us to the email and address indicated in the additional provisions or disclosures of your country of residence below.

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Additional Provisions for China

The following additional provisions apply in accordance with the Personal Information Protection Law and other relevant laws applicable to China residents.

1.7 Processing your Personal Information is necessary for the operation of the Platform and Channels and, where applicable, providing your express, voluntary, informed consent to this Privacy Policy is an essential requirement for you and/or Sellers to be able to use the Channels and/or Platform.

1.8 Sellers will be deemed to have informed their Representatives (as defined in Section 2) and obtained explicit consent from them to the terms of this Privacy Policy. Upon request, Sellers shall provide Mercado Libre with evidence of such consent.

1.9 Mercado Libre will process your Personal Information in compliance with the privacy and personal information protection legislation of the People’s Republic of China (for the purpose of this Privacy Policy only, excluding Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region and Taiwan) (“China”).

2. “Sensitive Personal Information” generally refers to the Personal Information that is likely to result in damage to the personal dignity of any natural person or damage to his or her personal or property safety once disclosed or illegally used, including such information as biometric identification, religious belief, specific identity, medical health, financial account and whereabouts and tracks, as well as the personal information of minors under the age of 14. All categories of Sensitive Personal Information in this Privacy Policy are marked with bold fonts and underlines.

3. Sensitive Personal Information

In some particular circumstances, Mercado Libre may collect Sensitive Personal Information, as outlined throughout this Privacy Policy.

Processing your Sensitive Personal Information (including its cross-border transfers as explained above) is necessary for the operation of the Platform and Channels and providing your express, voluntary, informed consent to this Privacy Policy is an essential requirement for you and/or Sellers to be able to use the Channels and/or Platform.

6. Transferring your Personal Information to countries or regions outside of your country of residence is necessary for the operation of the Platform and Channels and, providing your express, voluntary, informed consent to this such transfer is an essential requirement for you and/or Sellers to be able to use the Channels and/or Platform.

When we transfer your Personal Information to countries or regions other than China, we will procure foreign recipients to process such Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable laws.

We may transfer your Personal Information as follows:

Overseas Recipient

Contact Information

Type of Personal Information

Purpose for cross-border transfer

Mercado Libre and its affiliates (mainly in the South America and US)