Last updated: December 21, 2023

MIZUHO CALIFORNIA PRIVACY NOTICE

This Mizuho California Privacy Notice (“CCPA Notice”) supplements the Privacy Policy of Mizuho Americas LLC and its subsidiaries in the Americas and Mizuho Bank, Ltd. and its branches and offices in the Americas (collectively, “Mizuho Americas”, “us” or “we”), which can be found at https://www.mizuhoamericas.com/privacy-security.  We adopt this CCPA Notice in order to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (collectively, the “CCPA”), and other California privacy laws.  Any terms defined in the CCPA have the same meaning when used in this CCPA Notice.  This CCPA Notice applies only to people who reside in the State of California (“you”) and describes how we collect, use, and disclose personal information online when you use the Mizuho Americas website, our applications, or online services (collectively, the “Sites”); in the course of providing our products and services; or when you otherwise interact with us.


Information We Collect


We collect information that identifies, relates to, describes, references, is capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular individual or device (“personal information”). In particular, we may have collected the following categories of personal information about you within the last twelve (12) months: 


•    Personal identifiers, such as your real name, postal address, email address, account name, Social Security number, driver’s license number, passport number or other similar identifiers. 
•    Customer records, as defined in Cal. Civ. Code Section 1798.80(e), such as name, address, bank account number, or other financial information.
•    Protected classifications under California or federal law, such as age or gender.
•    Commercial information, such as records of products and services that you purchased, obtained, or considered.
•    Internet or other electronic network activity information, such as Internet Protocol (IP) address, browsing history, search history, and information about your interactions with our Sites.
•    Geolocation data.
•    Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information, such as call and video recordings. 
•    Professional or employment-related information, such as employment history.
•    Education information directly related to a student and maintained by an educational agency or institution or by a party acting for or on behalf of the agency or institution.
•    Inferences drawn from the information above.
•    The following categories of sensitive personal information:
      o    Personal information that reveals:
             -  A California resident’s Social Security, driver’s license, state identification card, or passport number;
             - A California resident’s account log-in, financial account, debit card, or credit card number in combination with any required security or access code, password, or credentials allowing access to an account;
            - A California resident’s racial or ethnic origin, or religious or philosophical beliefs;
     o    The contents of a California resident’s mail, email, and text messages where Mizuho is not the intended recipient of the communication; and
     o    Personal information collected and analyzed concerning a California resident’s health or sexual orientation.

Personal information does not include:


•    Publicly available information from government records.
•    De-identified or aggregated information. We maintain and use information in de-identified form and we do not to attempt to re-identify the information.
•    Information excluded from the CCPA's scope, like:
     o    health or medical information covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) or clinical trial data;
     o    personal information covered by certain sector-specific privacy laws, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FRCA), the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) or California Financial Information Privacy Act (FIPA), and the Driver's Privacy Protection Act of 1994.

We collect personal information from the following categories of sources:


•    Directly from our clients or their agents. For example, from documents that our clients provide to us related to the services for which they engage us.
•    From third parties in the course of providing services to our clients or their agents. For example, information from forensic reporting agencies that may include your personal information. 
•    Information that you provide to us directly. For example, if you make submissions through our website portal.
•    Information we collect automatically through your use of our Sites. For example, website usage details collected through tracking technologies.
•    Affiliates.
•    Government entities and other publicly-available sources.

Use of Personal Information


We may use your personal information for one or more of the following business purposes:


•    To provide our products, services, and Sites, and fulfill our contractual obligations to you, our clients, or others, including maintaining and servicing accounts, processing transactions, providing customer service, verifying customer information, processing payments, or providing similar services. 
•    To communicate with you, including responding to your inquiries and providing email alerts, event registrations, and other notices concerning our products or services.
•    For our marketing and advertising purposes, including providing you with information about our products, services, events, or news that we think may be of interest to you.
•    To maintain and improve our products, services, or the Sites, including debugging to identify and repair errors and ensuring the security and integrity of personal information.
•    To perform auditing related to counting ad impressions to unique visitors, verifying positioning and quality of ad impressions, and auditing compliance with this specification and other standards.
•    To carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us.
•    To (a) comply with applicable laws, including laws outside your state, province, and country of residence, (b) to comply with legal process; (c) to respond to requests from public and government authorities, including public and government authorities outside your state, province, and country of residence; (d) to enforce our terms and conditions or the terms of any contracts we may have with you; (e) to protect our operations or those of any of our affiliates; (f) to protect our rights, privacy, safety, or property, and/or that of our affiliates, you, or others; or (g) to allow us to enforce our rights, pursue available remedies, or limit the damages that we may sustain.


We may use sensitive personal information for the following purposes:


•    Where required for client onboarding and the provision of our services (e.g., for identity verification, maintaining or servicing accounts, providing customer service, or processing transactions).
•    To prevent, detect, and investigate security incidents that compromise the availability, authenticity, or confidentiality of personal information. 
•    To resist malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal actions directed at Mizuho (e.g., to detect fraud or potential identity theft) and to prosecute those responsible for those actions. 
•    To verify or maintain the quality or safety of the products or services that we offer. 
•    For other purposes that do not involve inferring characteristics about individuals, such as to comply with our legal obligations or respond to requests from law enforcement. 

Mizuho does not process sensitive personal information for the purpose of inferring characteristics about individuals.


Disclosures of Personal Information


The table below describes the categories of personal information we have collected and the categories of third parties to whom we have disclosed this personal information in the preceding twelve (12) months. 
 

Categories of personal information collected Categories of third parties to whom we disclosed this personal information for business purposes 
Personal identifiers, such as your real name, postal address, email address, account name, Social Security number, driver’s license number, passport number or other similar identifiers.  •    Vendors who provide services to us or on our behalf 
•    Company-branded merchandise manufacturers 
•    Providers of professional services (e.g., law firms, auditors)
•    Affiliates of Mizuho Americas 
•    Government authorities 
•    Customers
•    Information technology and related infrastructure providers 
Customer records, as defined in Cal. Civ. Code Section 1798.809€, such as name, address, bank account number or other financial information. •    Vendors who provide services to us or on our behalf
•    Company-branded merchandise manufacturers 
•    Providers of professional services (e.g., law firms, auditors)
•    Affiliates of Mizuho Americas 
•    Government authorities 
•    Customers
•    Information technology and related infrastructure providers
Protected classifications under California or federal law, such as age or gender. •    Vendors who provide services to us or on our behalf 
•    Providers of professional services (e.g., law firms, auditors)
•    Affiliates of Mizuho Americas
•    Government authorities
•    Customers
Commercial information, including records of products and services that you purchased, obtained or considered. •    Vendors who provide services to us or on our behalf
•    Affiliates of Mizuho Americas
 
Internet or other electronic network activity information, such as browsing history, search history, and information about your interactions with our websites. •    Vendors who provide services to us or on our behalf
•    Affiliates of Mizuho Americas
Geolocation data. •    Vendors who provide services to us or on our behalf
Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information, such recordings of customer calls.  •    Vendors who provide services to us or on our behalf 
•    Providers of professional services (e.g., law firms, auditors)
•    Government authorities
Professional or employment-related information, such as employment history. •    Vendors who provide services to us or on our behalf
•    Providers of professional services (e.g., law firms, auditors)
•    Affiliates of Mizuho Americas
•    Government authorities 
Inferences drawn from any of the information above.  •    Affiliates of Mizuho Americas
Sensitive personal information, such as Social Security number.  •    Vendors who provide services to us or on our behalf 
•    Providers of professional services (e.g., law firms, auditors)
•    Affiliates of Mizuho Americas
•    Government authorities  

 

We may disclose any of the categories personal information we collect:


•    For any of the purposes described in the “Use of Your Personal Information” section above. 
•    As required by law, such as to comply with a subpoena or other legal process, or to comply with government reporting obligations.
•    When we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary (a) to protect our rights; the integrity of our products, services, or Sites; or your safety or the safety of others, or (b) to detect, prevent, or respond to fraud, intellectual property infringement, violations of our Terms of Use, violations of law, or other misuse of the Sites.
•    To affiliates, service providers, advisors, or other third parties to the extent reasonably necessary to proceed with the negotiation or completion of a merger, acquisition, bankruptcy, or sale of all or a portion of our assets.

We may disclose personal identifiers, such as email addresses, and information about Internet or other network activity, such as IP addresses, to third party marketing, advertising, and analytics providers in exchange for valuable consideration, such as receiving insights or services, and to support targeted advertising based on your interests inferred from your activities on our websites and unaffiliated websites and applications. Such disclosures may be considered a “sale” or “share” under the CCPA. We do not knowingly sell or share information related to individuals under 16 years of age. 


Retention of Your Personal Information


We retain your personal information for as long as we have a relationship with you. Once our relationship with you has come to an end, we will retain your personal information for a period of time that enables us to:
•    Maintain business records for analysis and/or audit purposes.
•    Comply with record retention requirements under the law or other relevant legal or regulatory requirements.
•    Defend or bring any existing or potential legal claims.
•    Address complaints and inquiries. 


Your Rights and Choices


The CCPA provides California residents with the following rights regarding their personal information:


•    Right to Access Your Personal Information 
You may be entitled to request that we disclose to you the specific pieces of your personal information that we have collected about you in a portable and, to the extent technically feasible, readily usable format.


•    Right to Know
You may have the right to obtain information about our collection and use of your personal information, including, as applicable:
•    The categories of personal information we collected about you.
•    The categories of sources from which we collected personal information about you.
•    The business or commercial purposes for which we collected, sold, or shared that personal information.
•    The categories of personal information that we sold, shared, or disclosed to third parties for business purposes.
•    The categories of third parties to whom we sold, shared, or disclosed that personal information.

 


•    Right to Request Deletion of Personal Information 
You may have the right to request that we delete the personal information that we have collected from you. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to honor your request, in compliance with applicable laws. Please note, however, that we may need or be required to keep such information, such as for our legitimate business purposes or to comply with applicable law.


•    Right to Correct Personal Information 
You may also have the right to update inaccurate information that we process about you.


•    Right to Opt-Out of Sales and Sharing of Personal Information 
You are entitled to opt out of sales of your personal information to third parties and to opt out of the disclosure of your personal information to third parties for cross-context behavioral advertising, if applicable. You can exercise this right through the Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information link below.

You can also exercise this right by enabling the global privacy control on your browser. Enabling this signal will opt your browser out of sales and sharing via our third party advertising cookies. 


•    Right to Be Free From Discrimination
You have the right not to receive discriminatory treatment from us for the exercise of your rights under the CCPA. 


Exercising Your Rights


You may exercise your rights under the CCPA by:
•    Completing an online Personal Information Request Form for California Residents
•    Calling us at 1-877-411-0413


Please note that we may require additional information from you to verify your identity and process your request. You can also submit a request via an authorized agent using the methods described above. If you use an authorized agent, we may request a copy of the agent’s signed permission to act, verify your identity directly, and ask that you confirm the agent’s authority. Only you, a person registered with the California Secretary of State that you authorize to act on your behalf, or someone who has power of attorney or is acting as your conservator may make a request related to your personal information. You may also make a request on behalf of your minor child.


We cannot respond to your request to access, know, delete, or correct your personal information if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the personal information relates to you.  


Changes to Our CCPA Notice


We may change or update this CCPA Notice from time to time.  When we do, we will post the revised CCPA Notice on this page with a new “Last Updated” date and notify you as required by applicable law.  Any changes to this CCPA Notice will become effective when posted unless indicated otherwise.


Contact Information


If you have any questions or comments about this CCPA Notice, our Privacy Policy, the ways in which we collect and use your personal information, or your choices and rights regarding such use, or wish to exercise your rights under California law, please do not hesitate to contact us at:


Phone: 1-877-411-0413
Email: [email protected]
Postal Address: Mizuho Americas LLC
Attn:  Corporate Communications
1271 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
 

Back to top