Nintendo updates Nintendo Account User Agreement and Privacy Policy

With the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 fast approaching, Nintendo has made some updates to its Nintendo Account User Agreement and Privavy Policy. You can find the updated versions of both on these pages:

• Nintendo Account User Agreement
• Privacy Policy

When it comes to the Privacy Policy, only a few changes were made:

• We clarified that we may collect, monitor and record audio and video of your chat sessions with other users to provide a safe and secure environment for certain of our services;
• We clarified that when you contact us, we may monitor and record those interactions for quality assurance purposes; and
• We provided more details about information that may be visible to other users when you use certain of our services.

About the collecting, monitoring, and recording audio and video of chat sessions, the Privacy Policy specifies that such recordings are stored on the devices of all participants for 24 hours. You can review the last 3 minutes of the relevant recorded content, and if you encounter any language or behaviour that may violate applicable laws, you can report it. It’s then (and only then) that data will be transferred to Nintendo (it’s not done automatically).

Update: this particular aspect of the privacy policy is only mentioned in the EU document, and is seemingly absent from the US document (which does not mention the on-device storage and its duration).

Next up, here’s a summary of the changes made to the Nintendo Account User Agreement (US version only):

• The introduction clarifies the existing requirement that account holders must be at least 18 years old (or the age of majority where they live) and are responsible for all activity under their account.
• Section 1 (Definitions) updates the definition of Nintendo Account Services to include additional Nintendo products and services where a Nintendo Account is required or you link your Nintendo Account.
• Section 2 (License) clarifies that Nintendo services are licensed and not sold to you and includes additional restrictions on how those services may be used.
• Section 4 (Use of the Nintendo Account Services) clarifies that the Agreement will control in the event of any conflicts with other applicable Nintendo terms and conditions and requires that you comply with all applicable laws while using your Nintendo Account.
• Section 6 (User-Generated Content) clarifies that you must comply with the Nintendo Game Content Guidelines for Online Video & Image Sharing Platforms.
• Section 7 (Shopping Services; Rewards Program; Online Subscription Services) and our Purchase and Subscription Terms link to our policies on Returns & Exchanges.
• Section 11 (Nintendo of America Community Guidelines) clarifies that you must comply with our Community Tournament Guidelines if you participate in a community tournament.
• Section 13 (Breach and Termination of the Agreement; Changes to the Agreement) provides additional information on when Nintendo may suspend or terminate your account and what the consequences of suspension or termination are.
• Section 16 (Dispute Resolution) updates how you and Nintendo will resolve disputes with one another through binding, individual arbitration, including a new requirement for informal dispute resolution before arbitration and new processes for coordinated filings.
• Section 20 (Additional Terms for Customers Using Apple Devices) has been updated based on Apple’s terms.
• Section 21 (Third-Party Rights) clarifies that the Agreement is only between you and Nintendo.

And finally, Nintendo also updated the My Nintendo Rewards Program Terms of Service back in March to take into account the discontinuation of Gold Points:

• These updates reflect the discontinuation of Gold Points from the My Nintendo Rewards Program.
• The section titled “About the My Nintendo Program” has been updated to remove the mention of discounts, as they were previously linked to Gold Points, which can no longer be earned.
• The section titled “Earning Points” has been updated to clarify that Gold Points will no longer be earned as of March 24, 2025, except by registering select physical games released on or prior to March 24, 2025. This section has also been updated to remove references to earning Gold Points using a Nintendo Network ID, as this functionality is no longer available.
• The section titled “Restrictions” has been updated to link to our current customer service contact page.