Ads on Rakuten Viber
To keep Rakuten Viber free for everyone, we show ads.
Ads are selected according to your demographics (such as your age), preferred language, device type, non-accurate location (or GPS location data if you allowed it in your settings), and previous activity on Rakuten Viber and other platforms.
Although you can’t opt out of seeing ads without being a Viber Plus subscriber, you can control how your data is processed. If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland, or the UK, you can change the settings on your manage ad preferences menu. For users in the US, this option is called Do not sell or share my personal information.
Turning off personalized ads is not available in all countries.
Tracking technology
Rakuten Viber and our trusted partners use tracking technologies, such as mobile identifiers, to understand how you interact with the Rakuten Viber app. We then use this information to show you ads that we believe will be relevant and interesting to you. For example, we want to avoid showing you an ad in Japanese if your preferred language is Greek.
Identify ads
You will see ads from Rakuten Viber and third parties marked with Ad or Sponsored. Ads may be displayed in certain places across the app, such as after a call in the chats list, the More menu, the Sticker market, the Explore screen, and others.
Report an ad
If you see an ad that you find offensive, you can report it to us:
- Tap/click on the flag or arrow in the corner of the ad and select Report.
- Complete the Report content or account form
- Submit the form
You can also temporarily close the ad by tapping/clicking Hide instead.
Opt out of personalized ads
You can remove Rakuten Viber’s permission to use your advertising ID. This means that you will continue to see ads; however, they may not be relevant to you.
Opt out of app tracking (iOS)
- Open Settings on your phone
- Tap Privacy & Security
- Tap on Tracking
- Switch the toggle next to Rakuten Viber OFF
For more information on app tracking, please review our Viber Ads, Cookies & Tracking Technologies Policy.
Opt out of interest-based ads (iOS)
- Open Settings on your phone
- Tap Privacy & Security
- Tap Apple advertising
- Switch ‘Personalized ads’ OFF
- This setting will apply to all your apps, not just Rakuten Viber
Opt out of personalized ads on Rakuten Viber (US users)
Users in the United States can opt out of personalized advertising by following these steps:
- Open Rakuten Viber on your phone
- Tap on More
- Tap on Settings
- Tap on Privacy
- Tap on Personal data
- Make sure the toggle named Do Not Sell My Personal Information is set to OFF
- Close and restart Rakuten Viber on all your devices to apply the new setting.
Manage ad preferences
Rakuten Viber processing
Ad personalization based on your Rakuten Viber data
We infer your interests based on your usage and interaction with Rakuten Viber and its services. This information is used to offer you targeted ads based on your observed interests and characteristics.
This processing does not affect the end-to-end encryption of your chats.
This setting (if available) can be switched off:
- Open Rakuten Viber on your phone
- Tap on More
- Tap on Settings
- Tap on Privacy
- Tap on Personal data
- Tap on Manage ad preferences
- Switch OFF or unselect Allow ad personalization based your Viber data
- Close and restart Rakuten Viber on all your devices to apply the new setting
Ad personalization based on third-party data
Third-party data on your activity outside Rakuten Viber can be used by us to offer you personalized ads. This setting can be switched off by following these steps:
- Open Rakuten Viber on your phone
- Tap on More
- Tap on Settings
- Tap on Privacy
- Tap on Personal data
- Tap on Manage ad preferences
- Switch OFF or unselect Allow ad personalization based on third-party data
- Close and restart Rakuten Viber on all your devices to apply the new setting
IAB partner processing
We share your advertising ID and limited information with partners involved in managing and optimizing ads, as well as with advertisers and their agencies. Below, you'll find details on how to control how and for which purposes your advertising ID and information are used by trusted partners listed by IAB Europe.
Store and/or access information on a device
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognize it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here. To disable access to these identifiers:
- Open Rakuten Viber on your phone
- Tap on More
- Tap on Settings
- Tap on Privacy
- Tap on Personal data
- Tap on Manage ad preferences
- Switch OFF or unselect Store and/or access information on a device
- Close and restart Rakuten Viber on all your devices to apply the new setting
Use limited data to select advertising
Advertising presented to you on Rakuten Viber can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you). To limit the data used when choosing which ads to show you:
- Open Rakuten Viber on your phone
- Tap on More
- Tap on Settings
- Tap on Privacy
- Tap on Personal data
- Tap on Manage ad preferences
- Switch OFF or unselect Use limited data to select advertising
- Close and restart Rakuten Viber on all your devices to apply the new setting
Create profiles for personalized advertising
Information about your activity on Rakuten Viber (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on Rakuten Viber and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities. To disable the creation of such profiles:
- Open Rakuten Viber on your phone
- Tap on More
- Tap on Settings
- Tap on Privacy
- Tap on Personal data
- Tap on Manage ad preferences
- Switch OFF or unselect Create profiles for personalized advertising
- Close and restart Rakuten Viber on all your devices to apply the new setting
Use profiles to select personalized advertising
Advertising presented to you on Rakuten Viber can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on Rakuten Viber or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. To disable the use of profiles created for personalized advertising:
- Open Rakuten Viber on your phone
- Tap on More
- Tap on Settings
- Tap on Privacy
- Tap on Personal data
- Tap on Manage ad preferences
- Switch OFF or unselect Use profiles for personalized advertising
- Close and restart Rakuten Viber on all your devices to apply the new setting
Create profiles to personalize content
Information about your activity on Rakuten Viber (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on Rakuten Viber or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests. To disable the creation of such profiles:
- Open Rakuten Viber on your phone
- Tap on More
- Tap on Settings
- Tap on Privacy
- Tap on Personal data
- Tap on Manage ad preferences
- Switch OFF or unselect Create profiles to personalize content
- Close and restart Rakuten Viber on all your devices to apply the new setting
Use profiles to select personalized content
Advertising presented to you on Rakuten Viber can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on Rakuten Viber or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. To disable the use of profiles created for personalized content:
- Open Rakuten Viber on your phone
- Tap on More
- Tap on Settings
- Tap on Privacy
- Tap on Personal data
- Tap on Manage ad preferences
- Switch OFF or unselect Use profiles to select personalized content
- Close and restart Rakuten Viber on all your devices to apply the new setting
Measure advertising performance
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns. To disable this:
- Open Rakuten Viber on your phone
- Tap on More
- Tap on Settings
- Tap on Privacy
- Tap on Personal data
- Tap on Manage ad preferences
- Switch OFF or unselect Measure advertising performance
- Close and restart Rakuten Viber on all your devices to apply the new setting
Measure content performance
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on Rakuten Viber and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you. To disable this:
- Open Rakuten Viber on your phone
- Tap on More
- Tap on Settings
- Tap on Privacy
- Tap on Personal data
- Tap on Manage ad preferences
- Switch OFF or unselect Measure content performance
- Close and restart Rakuten Viber on all your devices to apply the new setting
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents). To disable:
- Open Rakuten Viber on your phone
- Tap on More
- Tap on Settings
- Tap on Privacy
- Tap on Personal data
- Tap on Manage ad preferences
- Switch OFF or unselect Measure content performance
- Close and restart Rakuten Viber on all your devices to apply the new setting
Develop and improve services
Information about your activity on Rakuten Viber, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
To disable:
- Open Rakuten Viber on your phone
- Tap on More
- Tap on Settings
- Tap on Privacy
- Tap on Personal data
- Tap on Manage ad preferences
- Switch OFF or unselect Develop and improve services
- Close and restart Rakuten Viber on all your devices to apply the new setting
Use limited data to select content
Content presented to you on Rakuten Viber can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
To disable:
- Open Rakuten Viber on your phone
- Tap on More
- Tap on Settings
- Tap on Privacy
- Tap on Personal data
- Tap on Manage ad preferences
- Switch OFF or unselect Use limited data to select content
- Close and restart Rakuten Viber on all your devices to apply the new setting
Special purposes
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Features
Match and combine data from other data sources
Information about your activity on Rakuten Viber may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on the information transmitted automatically
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Special features
Use precise geolocation data
Your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice. Tap the adjacent checkmark to toggle between enabled/disabled.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification
Certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice. Tap the adjacent checkmark to toggle between enabled/disabled.
Choose which IAB partners you allow to process your data
You can find a list of the IAB partners we use in the Manage ad preferences menu:
- Open Rakuten Viber on your phone
- Tap on More
- Tap on Settings
- Tap on Privacy
- Tap on Personal data
- Tap on Manage ad preferences
The partner ad preferences above apply to every IAB partner, so if you turn off a toggle above, it will apply to all partners.
Control what happens to your data
We are committed to giving you as much control as possible over your data.
You can:
- See what data we have collected about you
- Delete your data from our servers
- Restrict our use of your advertising ID
To review or delete the data we collected about you, please see the following article: Request, review, and delete your data on Rakuten Viber.