Privacy Policy

Welcome to the official website of Shenzhen SOFARSOLAR Co., Ltd and its affiliates (hereinafter, collectively referred to as "SOFAR" , “we”,”us” and “our”). We are committed to protecting the privacy of your personal data and, as part of our privacy practices, we specifically emphasize that this Privacy Policy applies at all times during your use of our website, products and services that display or provide links to this policy.

Last updated: December 2024.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please contact us using the contact information below:

Email: privacycompliance@sofarsolar.com  

 ◼ How We Collect and Use Your Personal Data

 ◼ How We Use Cookies and Similar Technologies

 ◼ How We Protect and Retain Your Personal Data

 ◼ Your Rights

 ◼ How We Handle Children's Personal Data

 ◼ How Your Personal Data is Transferred Globally

 ◼ How This Policy Has Been Updated

 ◼ How to Contact Us

We recognize the importance of your personal information and will do our best to keep it safe and secure. We are committed to maintaining your trust in us by adhering to the applicable laws and regulations, including but not limited to General Data Protection Regulation, and protecting your personal information by adopting appropriate security measures in accordance with the industry's mature security standards. Please read and understand this Policy carefully before using our official website, products and services.

How We Collect and Use Your Personal Data

1、What personal data we collect about you

Personal data means any data that, either on its own or jointly with other data, can be used to identify a natural person. You directly provide us with such data when you use our websites, products, or services, or interact with us, for example, by creating a SOFAR account or contacting us for support. We may also obtain data by recording how you interact with our websites, products, or services. For example, we may use technologies like cookies to improve user experience.

The personal data we collect includes user name, email address, phone number, country and region, user company name, user type, user receiving/installation address, the device type, device description or model, device identifier etc., depending on how you interact with SOFAR, for example, the newsletter information you want to obtain that regularly sent by SOFAR, the after-sales service that we provide to you, and all other products and services that you use.

We also collect the information you provide to us and the content of messages you send us, such as the query information you provide, or the questions or information you provide for customer service support.

Before using products or services of SOFAR, you may need to provide personal data. In some cases, you may be able to opt not to disclose your personal data to SOFAR. However, not providing SOFAR with certain data may mean that we cannot provide you with certain products or services or respond to an issue that you have raised.

2、How we use your personal data

We may use your personal data for the following purposes:

Creating an account.

Fulfilling your transaction or service requests, including fulfilling orders; delivering or repairing products or services; providing you with the requested information (such as marketing materials for products and services).

Contacting you with your consent; sending you information about products and services that may interest you; inviting you to participate in SOFAR activities (including promotional activities), market surveys, or satisfaction surveys; or sending you marketing information. If you do not want to receive these types of information, you can opt out at any time.

Answering your queries or provide services requested and perform bug location and data repair in the power station when bugs occur in the platform; Remotely viewing and operating the equipment to repair faults or improve product performance.

Complying with and enforcing applicable legal requirements, industry standards and our policies.

We will process your personal data following the requirements of applicable laws on an appropriate legal basis, including:

Processing your personal data to fulfill the contract when responding to a transaction or service request;

Processing your personal data with your consent;

Processing your personal data as necessary to comply with and fulfill legal obligations; Processing based on the legitimate interests of SOFAR when we use your personal data to contact you, conduct marketing surveys, improve our products and services and other purposes. We make sure we consider and balance any potential impact on you and your rights before we process your personal data for our legitimate interests. We do not use your personal data for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you (unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law).

3、How we disclose your personal data

Generally, we will not disclose nor transfer your personal date, except in the following scenarios:

(1) We may share your personal data with our partners, in accordance with this Policy, if we have authorized them to offer certain services. For example, partners that represent us to send emails, provide technical support. We require these partners to respect the security of   your personal data and to treat it in accordance with applicable laws. These partners can only use your personal data to represent us to provide services for you.  

(2) We may disclose personal data among our affiliates. We will only disclose your data within our affiliates for specific, explicit, and lawful purpose, and will disclose only data necessary to provide services.

(3) We may disclose your personal data to law enforcement or other government agencies as stipulated by applicable laws or legal procedures. If SOFAR is involved in a restructuring, merger & acquisition, or a bankruptcy or liquidation lawsuit in a given jurisdiction, your personal data may be disclosed and/or transferred in connection with the transaction.

(4) We may also disclose your personal data when there is a reasonable need, such as for the execution of a contract or when we believe it is necessary and appropriate to prevent physical damage or property loss or investigate possible or actual illegal acts.

How We Use Cookies and Similar Technologies

To ensure our website works correctly, we may at times place a small piece of data known as a cookie on your computer or mobile device. A cookie is a text file stored by a web server on a computer or mobile device. The content of a cookie can be retrieved or read only by the server that creates the cookie. The text in a cookie often consists of identifiers, site names, and some numbers and characters. Cookies are unique to the browsers or mobile applications you use, and enable websites to store data such as your preferences or items in your shopping cart.

Like many other websites, SOFAR uses cookies to improve user experience. Session cookies are deleted after each visit, while persistent cookies remain in place across multiple visits. Cookies allow websites to remember your settings such as language, font size on your computer or mobile device, or other browser preferences. This means that a user does not need to reset preferences for every visit. On the contrary, if cookies are not used, websites will treat you as a new visitor every time you load a web page. For example, if you are redirected to another web page from a website you are already logged in to and then return to the original website, it will not recognize you and you must log in again.

SOFAR will not use cookies for any purposes not stated in this policy. You can manage or delete cookies based on your own preferences. You can clear all the cookies stored on your computer, and most web browsers provide the option of blocking cookies. However, by doing so, you have to change the user settings every time you visit our website.

In addition to cookies, we may also use other similar technologies on our websites such as web beacons and pixel tags. For example, when you receive an email from SOFAR, it may contain a click-through URL that links to a SOFAR web page. If you click the link, we will track your visit to help us learn about your preferences for products and services and improve our customer service. A web beacon is a transparent graphic image embedded in a website or in an email. We use pixel tags in emails to find out whether an email has been opened.

By using our website, you consent to the use of cookies, web beacons and pixel tags as described above.

How We Protect and Retain Your Personal Data

(1) We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorized access, public disclosure, use, modification, damage or loss of data. We take all reasonably practicable steps to protect your personal information. For example, personal information is anonymized, access rights are controlled, SSL transmission is encrypted, personal data is encrypted, and other security measures that comply with applicable laws, regulations and industry standards.

(2) Our data security capabilities: we offer privacy protection training courses to raise employees’ awareness of personal data protection, and we establish an organizational structure for information security management.

(3) We will implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure that no unrelated personal information is collected. We will only retain your personal information for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes set out in this Policy, unless we need to extend the retention period or are permitted to do so by law. The data retention period may vary according to scenarios, products, and services. To determine the retention period, we will take into account the time required to retain personal information to fulfill business purposes, including providing products and services, maintaining corresponding transactions and business records, controlling and improving the performance and quality of products and services, ensuring the security of systems, products, and services, handling possible user queries or complaints, and locating faults.

(4) The Internet environment is not 100 per cent secure and we will endeavor to ensure or warrant the security of any information you send to us. If our physical, technical, or managerial safeguards are breached, resulting in unauthorized access to, public disclosure of, alteration of, or destruction of the information, leading to damage to your legitimate rights and interests, we will be held legally liable.

(5) After the unfortunate occurrence of a personal information security incident, we will, in accordance with the requirements of laws and regulations, promptly inform you of: the basic situation and possible impact of the security incident, the disposal measures we have taken or will take, the suggestions you can independently take to prevent and reduce the risk, and the remedial measures for you. We will promptly inform you of the situation related to the incident by email, letter, phone call, push notification, etc. When it is difficult to inform the subject of personal information one by one, we will take a reasonable and effective way to make a public announcement.

We will also proactively report on the handling of personal information security incidents as required by applicable laws and regulations.

Your rights

In accordance with the relevant applicable laws and regulations, standards and common practices in other countries and regions, we guarantee that you will exercise the following rights with respect to your personal information:

(1) Access to your personal information

You have the right to access your personal information, subject to the exceptions provided for in laws and regulations.

To access your personal information, you can always use our web form to contact, or send email to privacycompliance@sofarsolar.com.

We will try to respond to your request for access within thirty days.

For other personal information generated in the course of your use of our products or services, we will provide you with it as long as we don't need too much input. If you wish to exercise your right of data access, please send email to privacycompliance@sofarsolar.com

(2) Correction of your personal information

You have the right to ask us to correct any personal information we process about you if you discover that it is incorrect. You can make a request for correction by using our web form to contact, or send email to privacycompliance@sofarsolar.com.

We will try to respond to your request for correction within thirty days.

(3) Deletion of your personal information

In the following cases, you may make a request to us to delete your personal information:

1) If our handling of personal information violates laws and regulations;

2) If we collect or use your personal information without your consent;

3) If we process personal information in breach of our agreement with you;

4) If you no longer use our products or service, or you cancelled the account;

If we decide to respond to your request for deletion, we will also simultaneously notify the entities that obtained your personal information from us and ask them to delete it in a timely manner, unless otherwise required by law or regulation, or if those entities have been independently authorized by you to do so. When you delete information from our services, we will try to respond to your deletion request within thirty days.

(4) change the scope of your authorized consent

You can give or withdraw your consent to the collection and use of additional personal information at any time. You can do this yourself by using the authorization information on the platform or by contacting us at privacycompliance@sofarsolar.com.

When you withdraw your consent, we will no longer process the corresponding personal data. However, your decision to withdraw your consent will not affect the processing of personal data previously carried out on the basis of your authorization.

(5) Cancellation of accounts by subjects of personal information

You can cancel your previously registered account at any time, either by cancelling your account on the website. After cancellation of your account, we will stop providing you with related services, and delete your personal information upon your request, unless otherwise provided by laws and regulations.

(6) Acquisition of copies of personal information by the subject of personal information

You have the right to obtain a copy of your personal data, which you can do yourself by using the export function of the website to deal with it for you.

Where technically feasible, we may also transfer a copy of your personal information directly to a third party nominated by you at your request.

(7) Responding to your request above

For security purposes, you may be required to provide a written request or otherwise prove your identity. We may ask you to verify your identity before processing your request.

We will try to respond within thirty days.

In principle, we do not charge you for reasonable requests, but for requests that are clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive, we will charge a fee for the cost of the request, if appropriate. We may refuse requests that are unnecessarily repetitive, require excessive technical means, pose a risk to the legitimate rights and interests of others, or are highly impractical.

We may not be able to respond to your request in the following circumstances:

1) Those directly related to national security and defense security;

2) Directly related to public safety, public health, and significant public interests;

3) Directly related to the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties, including the safeguarding against and the prevention of threats to public security;

4) For the purpose of safeguarding the life, property and other significant legitimate rights and interests of the subject of personal information or other individuals;

5) Responding to a request from a subject of personal information will result in serious damage to the legitimate rights and interests of the subject of personal information or other individuals or organizations.

How We Handle Children's Personal Data

Our websites are primarily intended for adults. Children should not create their own personal information subject accounts without parental or guardian consent.

In cases where personal information about children is collected with parental consent, we will only use or publicly disclose this information as permitted by law, with the express consent of the parent or guardian, or as necessary to protect the child.

If we become aware that personal information of children has been collected without prior verifiable parental consent, we will endeavor to delete the relevant data as soon as possible.

How Your Personal Data Is Transferred Globally

In principle, your personal data collected by SOFAR in People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as “China”) will be stored at servers in China, and the other personal data collected by SOFAR outside China will be sent to and stored at servers in Germany.

If you request us to transfer your personal information collected by us to countries or regions outside of the country where your personal data is stored, i.e. China or Germany, you may be required to provide the relevant data protection laws or regulations of the said country or region to ensure that the cross-border transfer of the information complies with the relevant local laws and regulations. If you firmly request us to carry out cross-border transfer of information without proving that the cross-border transfer of information complies with the relevant local data laws and regulations, we have the right to refuse and stop providing services to you. If you provide us with inaccurate information that causes the cross-border transfer of information to violate the relevant local data protection laws and regulations, the loss caused by this shall be borne by you, and we have the right to claim compensation from you for any loss caused by this.

How this policy will be updated

This Policy is subject to change. We will not reduce your rights under this Policy without your express consent. We will post any changes to this Policy on this page and will also archive an older version of this Policy for your review.

For material changes, we will also provide more prominent notice (including, for certain services, email notices describing the specific changes to this Policy). Material changes within the meaning of this Policy include, but are not limited to:

1. Significant changes in our service model. For example, the purpose of processing personal information, the type of personal information processed, and how personal information is used;

2. We experience significant changes in our ownership structure, organizational structure, etc. Such as changes in ownership caused by business restructuring, bankruptcy and mergers and acquisitions;

3. Changes in the primary recipients of personal information to be shared, transferred or publicly disclosed;

4. Significant changes in your rights to participate in the processing of personal information and the manner in which they are exercised;

5. In the event of a change in the department responsible for handling the security of personal information, our contact details and complaint channels;

6. When the personal information security impact assessment report indicates a high risk.

How to contact us

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:  privacycompliance@sofarsolar.com

We will try to respond within thirty days.