Privacy Notice

Last updated: 28 February 2023

We recommend that you read this Privacy Notice to be fully informed.

What does Bapp do?

Bapp is the launchpad to your latest video, article, recipe, tour, store, Website, social post, and other content. We connect your audience to wherever you are online, making your content more discoverable and easier to manage. Our Website (located at https://bappnow.com/) and other digital properties (such as our mobile app and Developer Portal) (together our “Platform”) provide information about us and allow individuals and businesses to sign-up as Bapp Users (to create a personalized, easily-customizable page), as Subscribers (to subscribe to and follow Bapp Users), or as developers (to create functionality that interacts with our Platform) (together, the “Bapp Services “).

The pages Bapp Users can create using the Bapp Services are referred to in this Privacy Notice as “User Profiles “. User Profiles are accessible to the public.

How does this Privacy Notice apply to me?

This Privacy Notice only applies to the personal information we collect as a controller from:

• Visitors to our Platform (“Platform Visitors “);
• Individuals, representatives of individuals, or companies that sign up to use our Bapp Services via a paid plan (“Paid Plan Users “) or free plan (“Free Plan Users “), together our “Bapp Users “;
• Individuals that sign up to subscribe to and / or follow User Profiles (“Subscribers “);
• Individuals that visit and interact with User Profiles (“Profile Visitors “);
• Developers that sign up to our Developer Portal to build the functionality that interacts with the Bapp Services (“Bapp Developers”);
• Individuals who respond to our surveys and marketing materials or participate in trade promotions or competitions that we may run from time to time;

This Privacy Notice applies to the processing of personal information by Bapp as a controller. When we talk about Bapp acting as a “controller”, we mean that Bapp determines the purpose and the means of the processing (i.e. we make decisions about how we will handle your personal information). Because of the nature of our services, we can also act as a “processor” on behalf of Bapp Users, which means that when a Bapp User instructs us, we can facilitate the processing of Profile Visitors’ and Subscribers’ personal information on behalf of that Bapp User (“Processor Services “). This Privacy Notice does not address Processor Services. If you are a Profile Visitor or Subscriber and want to know how a Bapp User handles your personal information, don’t hesitate to contact the Bapp User directly and/or refer to any privacy notice on the relevant User Profile.

If you provide us with information about another person (if, for example, you are a representative of an individual), you must give them a copy of this Privacy Notice and let that other person know that we use their personal information in the ways set out in this Privacy Notice.

What personal information do we collect?

The personal information that we may collect about you broadly falls into the following categories:

• Information you provide voluntarily: When you sign up to become a Bapp User, a Subscriber, use or interact with our Bapp Services or staff, visit our Platform, visit a User Profile, sign up to our Developer Portal, respond to a survey or participate in a trade promotion, we may ask you to provide personal information voluntarily. For example, suppose you are a Free Plan User. In that case, we will ask you to provide your email address, name, username, hashed password, vertical (industry to which your account relates) and marketing preferences. If you are a Paid Plan User, we will also ask for your full name, billing email address, and payment method to facilitate billing. If you are a Subscriber, we will ask you to provide your email address or SMS number.

• To opt out of marketing communications, we send you at any time. You can exercise this right by clicking on the “unsubscribe” or “opt-out” link in the marketing emails or SMS we may send you or completing our Data Request Form. You may also provide us with your data when you submit queries or make a report to us (such as an Intellectual Property Report or Counter-Notice). For example, please provide your name and email address so we can respond to your queries. Suppose you are making an Intellectual Property Report or Counter-Notice. In that case, we ask you to provide your name, address, email address, phone number and details regarding the intellectual property rights concerned. If you are a Profile Visitor, a User might request that you provide your email address, mobile number, date of birth or age, or other personal information to access elements of a User Profile (such as locked content). We may use the results of such access (i.e. successful or unsuccessful access attempts) to produce aggregated statistics for our internal purposes and to improve the Bapp Services. You may also provide personal information voluntarily if you respond to our surveys and marketing materials or participate in trade promotions and competitions we may run occasionally.

• Information that we collect automatically: When you visit our Platform, use our Bapp Services, interact with a User Profile, respond to a survey or participate in a trade promotion, we collect certain information automatically from your device. This information may be considered personal under applicable data protection laws in some countries, including countries in the European Economic Area and the UK. Specifically, the information we collect automatically may include your IP address, device type, unique device identification numbers, browser type, general geographic location (e.g. country or city-level location), time zone, usage data, diagnostic data and other technical information. We may also collect information about how your device has interacted with our Platform, Bapp Service or User Profiles, including the pages accessed and links clicked. Collecting this information enables us to understand you better, where you come from, and what content interests you. We use this information for our internal analytics purposes, to improve the quality and relevance of our Platform and Bapp Services, provide hints and tips to our Bapp Users, and make recommendations of Bapp Profiles you might be interested in viewing. Some of this information may be collected using cookies and similar tracking technology, as explained further under the heading “How do we use cookies and similar tracking technology” below. Additionally, we may undertake automatic scanning of User Profiles and links to determine whether mandatory or default sensitive content warnings should be applied and presented to Profile Visitors who wish to access the relevant User Profile or linked content, and to determine if any content should be removed or any User Profiles should be suspended in line with our Community Standards and/or Terms of Service. When a User changes their User Profile, we will notify relevant Subscribers to that User Profile that updates have been made.
• Information that we obtain from third-party sources: From time to time, we may receive personal information about you from third-party sources (including from service providers that help us run marketing campaigns or competitions and our partners who help us provide our Bapp Services). In all cases, we will only receive such data where we have checked that these third parties either have your consent or are otherwise legally permitted or required to disclose your personal information.
• Children’s data: Our services are not intended for children under 18 (the “Age Limit”). If you are under the Age Limit, please do not use the Bapp Services and do not provide us with your personal information. If you are a parent or guardian and you know that an individual (of whom you are a parent or guardian) under the Age Limit has provided us with personal information, don’t hesitate to contact us. Upon notice or discovery, we will make all reasonable efforts to erase or destroy any personal information that may have been collected or stored by us about that individual.

Why do we collect your personal information?

In general, we will use the information we collect for the purposes described in this Privacy Notice or for purposes that we explain to you when we collect your personal information. These include:

• To provide and deliver the Bapp Services and to assess, maintain and improve the performance and functionality of the Bapp Services.
• To ensure the Bapp Services are relevant to you and your device, to notify you about changes to the Bapp Services, and to deliver targeted and localized content based on your user data, location and preferences.
• For consumer research and to allow you to participate in surveys or interactive features of the Bapp Services.
• To provide customer support and to process and respond to a request, complaint, Intellectual Property Report, or Counter-Notice you may have made.
• To monitor the usage of the Bapp Services and to detect, prevent and address technical issues.
• To process payments for Paid Plan Users.
• To conduct business planning, reporting, and forecasting
• To deliver promotional materials, special offers and general information about other goods, services and events we offer that are similar to those that you have already purchased or enquired about, unless you have opted out of receiving such information
• For the administration of our business, including fulfilling and exercising our obligations and rights, exercising or defending legal claims, complying with our legal obligations and law enforcement requests, and managing the relationship with you,
• To verify your identity and detect fraud and potential fraud, including fraudulent payments and use of the Bapp Services.
• To include Bapp User Content in our advertising and marketing campaigns to promote Bapp.
• To inform our algorithms so we can deliver the most relevant recommendations to you, including User Profiles that you may be interested in.

Legal basis for processing personal information

Our legal basis for collecting and using the personal information described above will depend on the personal data and the specific circumstances in which we collect it.

However, we will normally collect personal information from you only where we have your consent, where we need the personal information to perform a contract with you, or where the processing is in our legitimate interests and not overridden by your data protection interests or fundamental rights and freedoms. In some cases, we may also have a legal obligation to collect personal information from you or may otherwise need the personal information to protect your vital interests or those of another person.

Suppose we ask you to provide personal information to comply with a legal requirement. In that case, we will make this clear at the relevant time and advise you whether providing your personal information is mandatory (as well as possible consequences if you do not provide your personal information). As indicated above, we require certain personal information to enter into a contract with you as a Bapp User. With your data, we can provide you with Bapp Services available to Bapp Users.

Suppose we collect and use your personal information in reliance on our legitimate interests (or those of any third party). In that case, this interest will normally be to develop and improve the Bapp Services, provide additional functionality, ensure appropriate security, or implement sensitive content warnings and moderation. We may have other legitimate interests, and if applicable, we will inform you at the proper time what those legitimate interests are.

If you have questions or need further information concerning the legal basis on which we collect and use your personal information, please contact us using the contact details provided under the “Contact Us” heading below.

Who may we disclose your personal information to?

We may disclose your personal information to the following categories of recipients:

• To our group companies, third-party services providers (for example, to support the delivery of, provide functionality on, or help to enhance the security of our Platform or Bapp Services), or who otherwise process personal information for purposes that are described in this Privacy Notice or notified to you when we collect your personal information. A list of our current group companies is available here, and a list of our current service providers and partners is available here. We also facilitate third-party payment providers, and this is set out in more detail below.
• To the extent we introduce social media log-ins in the future, we may provide personal data to the relevant social media provider to facilitate such log-ins;
• To any competent law enforcement body, regulatory, government agency, court or another third party where we believe disclosure is necessary (i) as a matter of applicable law or regulation, (ii) to exercise, establish or defend our legal rights, or (iii) to protect your vital interests or those of any other person,
• To an actual or potential buyer (and its agents and advisers) in connection with any existing or proposed purchase, merger or acquisition of any part of our business, provided that we inform the buyer it must use your personal information only for the purposes disclosed in this Privacy Notice,
• To any other person, with your consent to the disclosure

Disclosure of personal information to other countries

Your personal information may be transferred to, and processed in, countries other than the country where you reside. These countries may have data protection laws that are different to the laws of your country (and, in some cases, may not be as protective).

Specifically, Bapp may transfer personal information to the United States and other countries where we do business. Bapp may also subcontract certain activities and share your personal information with third parties outside the UAE (where we are headquartered).

The countries in which these organizations are located will vary. However, during our business operations, we generally disclose personal information to organizations in UAE or the United States. Such transfers are made to provide the Bapp Services and carry out the activities specified in this Privacy Notice.

However, we have taken appropriate safeguards to ensure your personal information remains protected following this Privacy Notice and applicable data protection laws. These include entering into data transfer agreements between our group companies, which can be provided upon request. We have implemented similar appropriate safeguards with our third-party service providers and partners, and further details can be provided upon request. Transfer of your personal information will only take place to an organization or another country if we believe adequate controls exist, including the security of your data and other personal information. For more details, please see the “How do we secure your personal information” section below.

How do we use cookies and similar tracking technology?

We use cookies and similar tracking technology (collectively, “Cookies”) to collect and use your personal information. For further information about the types of Cookies we use, why, and how you can control Cookies, please see our Cookie Notice.

How long do we retain your personal information?

We will retain your personal information for the period necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in this Privacy Notice and, in each case, following applicable legal and regulatory requirements regarding permitted or required retention periods and limitation periods relevant to legal action.

How do we secure your personal information?

We have implemented appropriate security measures to prevent your personal information from being accidentally lost, used or accessed unauthorizedly, altered or disclosed.

In addition, we limit access to your personal information to employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need for access. They will only process your data on our instructions and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee security. Therefore, we have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal information breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

What are your rights concerning personal information?

You have the following data protection rights:

• Suppose you wish to access, correct or update your personal information. In that case, you can do so anytime by completing our Data Request Form.

Depending on the country in which you live and the laws that apply to you, you may also have additional data protection rights. If you are resident in the UK or the European Economic Area, these rights include:

• To request the deletion of your personal information. You can do so at any time by completing our Data Request Form.
• To object to processing your personal information, ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information or request the portability of your personal information. Again, you can exercise these rights by completing our Data Request Form.
• To opt out of marketing communications, we send you at any time. You can exercise this right by clicking on the “unsubscribe” or “opt-out” link in the marketing emails we send you or completing our Data Request Form.
• Suppose we have collected and processed your personal information with your consent. In that case, you can withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawing your consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing we conducted before your withdrawal, nor will it affect the processing of your personal information conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent;
• The right to complain to a data protection authority about our collection and use of your personal information,

For more information, please get in touch with your local data protection authority. (Contact details for data protection authorities in the European Economic Area, Switzerland and certain non-European countries (including the US and Canada) are available here and in the UK.)

We respond to all requests from individuals wishing to exercise their data protection rights under applicable data protection laws.

Complaints

We take your privacy concerns seriously. Suppose you have a complaint regarding our handling of your personal information or our privacy practices. In that case, you may file a complaint using the contact details provided under the “Contact Us” heading below. We will confirm receipt of your complaint, and if we believe it necessary, we will open an investigation.

We may need to contact you to request further details of your complaint. If an investigation has been opened following your complaint, we will contact you with the result as soon as possible. In the unlikely circumstances, we cannot resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, and you may contact the local privacy and data protection authorities in your jurisdiction.

Changes to This Privacy Notice

We may update our Privacy Notice from time to time in response to changing legal, technical or business developments. When we update our Privacy notice, we will take appropriate measures to inform you, consistent with the significance of our changes. We will obtain your consent to any material Privacy Notice changes if and where applicable data protection laws require this.

You can see when this Privacy Notice was last updated by checking the “last updated” date displayed at the top of this Privacy Notice.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice, our privacy practices or if you would like to request any personal information we may hold about you, including correction of personal data, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us By email using: support@bappnow.com