Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Your Privacy matters at Staq. You can learn here how we handle your data with utmost care, ensuring transparency, security and compliance.

This Privacy Notice (hereafter "Notice") describes how Staq Technologies (DIFC) Ltd and other companies within the Staq group (“Staq”, "we", "us", "our") manage the Information that you provide to us via using our website www.staq.io.

This Notice explains how we will process this information, who we might share it with, and what steps we will take to make sure it stays private and secure. This Notice continues to apply even if your agreement with Staq ends.

Please note that this Notice may be updated from time to time and our Site will indicate the date at which the Notice has been last updated, it is your duty to periodically check whether there has been any updates by clicking on the "Privacy Notice" link at the footer on our Site. Changes to this Notice are effective when they are posted on this page.

If we have provided you with separate or further information about how we collect and use your Personal Information for a particular product or service, those terms will also apply. If you interact with us in a different context, separate terms might apply to that interaction. Where we provide you with other terms, those terms will always take precedence over this Notice.

There may be times when links on our Site redirect you to a third party's website of our partner networks, advertisers or affiliates which are not managed or connected to Staq. Should that be the case, that third party's own Privacy Notice, which may be different from this Notice, will apply. We hereby discharge ourselves from any responsibility or liability arising from these policies, or for any data that may be collected through these websites or services, such as your Personal Information. We encourage you to review the policies of these websites before you submit any personal data or use their services if any.

2. Definitions

In this Notice the following capitalised terms have the meaning assigned to them below unless expressly stated otherwise:

"Client" means the person or business who engages with Staq to provide the Staq services to their End-users.

"Cookies" means the small files stored on your device (computer or mobile device).

"DIFC" means the Dubai International Financial Centre.

"End-user" means the individual or corporate customer of Client who maintains account(s) with financial services providers and who use the Staq services to enable the connection of such accounts with Client.

"Information" means your Personal Information and Usage Information, including any information you provide to us or grant us access to.

"Staq" means Staq Technologies Ltd (DIFC) and any of its parents, affiliates and/ or subsidiaries.

"Staq Services" means any of the services and/or products offered by Staq, offered by Staq as stipulated for on our website. 

"Personal Information" means any information that can be used to identify an individual, whether directly or indirectly, and may include, but is not limited to name, email address, postal address, mobile phone number, financial and transaction data, location information, an online identifier such as login information, content data, usage data, marketing and communications data or to one or more factors specific to your physical, physiological, biometric, economic, cultural or social information.

"Site" means our website at www.staq.io.

"UAE" means the United Arab Emirates.

"Usage Information" means information which is collected automatically and is generated by your use of the Staq services, access to the Site, or from the Staq service infrastructure itself through or by any device (for example; we may capture the duration of your visit to a particular page of our Site).

"User" means the person who is using the Site (i.e. "you") and who is the subject of the Information we collect.

3. What Information We Collect About You

3.1 When you consensually sign up on our developer portal, or complete a form on our Site, or by contacting us via email, we may collect the following Information about you. This Information helps us to verify who you say you are.. This will include Information, such as:

1. your first and last name;
2. contact details, such as your email and phone number;
3. details about your work, such as your company name, URL and industry; and
4. any details that you provide us through during the integration process, or Information we collect or generate about you when you get in touch with us, including any details that are submitted to us via webform, email, or any other digital mechanism.

3.2 We may also get Information about you and the Client from external sources and publicly available sources to help us verify your identity, from the following third parties:

1. Analytics providers;
2. Advertising networks,
3. Search information providers;
4. Contact, financial and transaction data from providers of technical, payment and delivery services;
5. Identity and contact data from data brokers and aggregators;
6. Identity and contact data from publicly available sources; and
7. Cookies. 

3.3 We may use cookies and/or other tracking technologies to distinguish you from other users of the Site and to remember your preferences. This assists us in providing you with a good experience when you use the Site and also allows us to improve the Site. For detailed information on the cookies we use, the purposes for which we use them and how you can exercise your choices regarding our use of your cookies, see our Cookie Policy and the “Cookies” 13 section below.

3.4 By choosing to use the Staq services or as a result of your access to our Site, we may also collect Information concerning:

1. Your interests in our services and our partners;
2. Your interaction with our Site or the Staq services;
3. The mobile network and operating system that you use so that we can analyse how our Site and the Staq services work and fix any arising issues; and
4. Your location if you've authorised tracking, so we can help protect you against fraud.

3.5 We hereby confirm that we are not responsible for any data collected when using any of the Staq services as an End-user.

4. How We Collect, Use and Process Your Information

4.1 Staq collects and uses your Information for various purposes, and will always have a lawful basis for doing so, such as:

1. to process your Personal Information for the performance of an agreement we have with you;
2. to enter into an agreement with you;
3. to enable us to comply with the law, or we may use your Personal Information for our legitimate interests, or those of a third party (for example, to help product development, to manage our business risk, financial affairs and to protect our staff, or for security and maintenance).

4.2 We may also use your Information to:

1. develop, operate, provide, maintain, and improve the Staq services, now and in the future;
2. keep you up-to-date on the latest Staq service announcements, system enhancements, special offers, and other information;
3. provide and receive information, support, feedback and assistance related to the Staq services;
4. enable you to create a personal profile and view protected content;
5. analyse usage trends and the preferences of our Users and to conduct questionnaires and surveys, in order to improve the Staq services (your completion of these questionnaires will always be voluntary); and
6. where you are a Client, or work for a Client (i) contact you for administrative purposes, such as customer support; (ii) send communications, including updates on promotions and events, relating to products and services offered by us; (iii) personalise content and advertising to your preferences; and (iv) protect, investigate, and deter against fraudulent, unauthorised, or illegal activity.

5. Your Rights in Relation to Your Personal Information

5.1 You have a number of rights in relation to the Personal Information that we hold about you. These rights include:

5.1.1 The right to obtain information regarding the processing of your Personal Information and access to the Personal Information which we hold about you. Once we have received a request from you, we will tell you about what Personal Information we hold in our databases, including available details about the origin of that data, the purposes of our processing and the categories of data concerned, the parties involved in the data collection and any data recipients (including where we transfer your Personal Information outside DIFC). We will also tell you how long we will store your Personal Information (or the criteria used to determine that period), and your ability to ask us to rectify, erase or restrict our processing of your Personal Information. We will also provide information about your right to lodge a complaint with the Commissioner of Data Protection at DIFC, and the existence of any automated decision-making procedures we use. If you would like to obtain access to the Personal Information we hold on you, please send us a request in writing using the contact details below, together with a clearly legible copy of a valid official ID document (e.g., passport, ID card, driving licence) (the “Right to Access”);

5.1.2 In certain circumstances, the right to withdraw your consent to our processing of your Personal Information. Please note, we may still be entitled to process your Personal Information if we have another legitimate reason for doing so and your withdrawal of consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing taken place previously. Please note that in the event you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide you with certain products and services  (the “Right to Withdraw Consent”);

5.1.3 In some circumstances, the right to receive copies of your Personal Information electronically and/or request that we transmit the Personal Information to a third party where this is technically feasible. Please note that this right only applies to Personal Information which you have provided to us (the “Right to Data Portability”);

5.1.4 The right to request that we rectify your Personal Information if it is inaccurate or incomplete, the right to request that we restrict our processing of your Personal Information (in certain circumstances) and the right to object to the processing of your Personal Information (in certain circumstances) (the “Right to Rectify, Restrict and Object”);

5.1.5 The right to request that we erase your Personal Information in certain circumstances. Please note that there may be circumstances where you ask us to erase your Personal Information but we are legally required to retain it (the “Right to be Erased”); and

5.1.6 The right to lodge a complaint with the relevant authority (for example, you may lodge a complaint with the Commissioner of Data Protection at DIFC) if you think that any of your rights have been infringed by us. You can find out more information about your rights by visiting:
‍
https://www.difc.ae/business/registrars-and-commissioners/commissioner-of-data-protection/accountability
‍
(the “Right to File a Complaint”).

5.2 Where you have accessed the Staq services through a Client website or application (“Developer Application”), the products and services provided to you by the Developer Application will be governed by a separate agreement between you and the provider of the Developer Application (“Developer Terms”). Staq has no responsibility for the products and services provided to you by or through the Developer Application and Staq will not be liable to you for any harm, damage or loss arising from your use of the products and services provided by or through the Developer Application.

5.3 You can exercise any of these rights at any time by contacting us at hello@staq.io or through submission of a form here.

6. What We Expect From You

6.1 You are responsible for making sure the Information that you give us is accurate and up to date. And you must tell us if anything changes, as soon as possible. If we ask you for any Information and you do not provide it to us, we may stop providing the Staq services to you.

6.2 If you give us any information about another person connected to your account, you must tell them what Personal Information you have given us, and make sure that they are informed of the contents of this Notice and consent that we can use their information as set out in this Notice. You must also tell them how they can see what Personal Information we have about them and how to request the correction of any mistakes.

7. Unsubscribing and opting out

Strictly with your permission, we may use your Information for marketing communications purposes. Each promotional email you receive from Staq or any of our affiliated third parties will include instructions on how you can unsubscribe from that category of mailing or from receiving emails from that third party. You may also unsubscribe from Staq’s promotional emails by sending an email, including your name and email address to the contact details below.

8. Profiling, Usage Information and Location Data

8.1 We may analyse and evaluate your Information in an automated manner so as to identify significant characteristics or to predict insights and to create profiles. These may be used for business-related checks, product development and management.

8.2 When providing you with the Staq services, we may make decisions about you by automated means. For example, we use technology that helps us to identify the level of risk involved in User account activity (i.e. for credit, fraud and financial crime reasons). We may also use information received by third party providers to identify if someone else is using your Staq account without your permission.

8.3 You have a right to certain information about how we make these decisions. We ensure that a suitable contact person is available if you wish to express a view on any automated individual decision, where such opportunity to express a view is required by law. Please contact us using the contact details below for more information.

8.4 In some instances, Staq may collect, use and share aggregated data (such as statistical or demographic) for any purpose. Aggregated data can be derived from your Personal Information, however such it is not considered personal data as such information will not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. This Information may include, but is not limited to, information such as your computer's internet protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our Site that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data. Should we combine or connect aggregated data with your Personal Information where it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as Personal Information, which will be used in accordance with this Privacy Notice.

8.5 When you access our Site using a device, the Information may also include information such as the type of device you use, your device unique ID, the IP address of your device, your device operating system, the type of internet browser you use, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

8.6 This information allows us to better understand and improve the usability, performance, and effectiveness of our Site and to correct any problems that may occur. Please read the "Cookies" section below for more information. We may also collect and store your location data when you access our Site via a mobile device or computer. You can enable or disable location services when you use our Site at any time through your device settings.

9. Sharing your Personal Information

9.1 We will never sell or rent your Personal Information to third parties for marketing purposes. We may share and transfer your Personal Information within Staq and with our affiliated companies, service providers and any third parties engaged by us where:

1. we need to for the purposes of providing you with products or Staq services that you have requested (i.e. application development and providing Client and End-user support);
2. we have a public or legal duty to do so (i.e. to assist with detecting fraud, regulatory reporting, litigation or defending our legal rights);
3. we have a legitimate reason for doing so (i.e. to manage risk, verify your identity, or assess your suitability for products and the Staq services); or
4. we have asked you for your permission to share it, and you have agreed.

9.2 We only share your Personal Information to the extent that the other party reasonably needs it to complete or utilise the requested product or transaction, or to perform their function. All of our affiliated companies, service providers and any third parties engaged by us are not permitted to use your Personal Information except for the specific purposes, as agreed with Staq.

9.3 On occasion we may transfer and disclose your Information in other cases including:

1. In response to court orders, legal process or according to the requirements of applicable laws. We will only share such Information if required to do so, if we in good faith believe it is necessary, or if it is otherwise advisable to cooperate with law enforcement or other governmental agencies;
2. to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims;
3. To investigate, prevent, or take action against illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of Staq’s terms of service, or as otherwise that we believe in good faith is required by applicable law;
4. When there is a sale or transfer of all or part of Staq’s business or assets (which could include any merger, financing, acquisition, or bankruptcy); or
5. We may also share aggregated and/or anonymised data with others, such as our financial institution partners, for their own uses, or to meet our reporting obligations, or to indicate our Users' interests, habits, and usage patterns. For example, we may share such information publicly to show trends about the general use of the Staq services. However, you will not be able to be individually identified from this information.

10. Cross Border Transfers of your Personal Information

10.1 Our Site is hosted in the United States of America but can be accessed by any Staq affiliate worldwide. Accordingly, any Information collected through the Site may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside of the country or jurisdiction in which it was collected, where we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by ensuring at least one of the following safeguards is implemented:

1. We will only transfer your personal data to countries that have been deemed to provide and adequate level of protection for personal data; or
2. Where we use certain service providers, we may use specific contracts which provide an adequate level of protection for personal data.

10.2 Depending on where you access the Staq services, our Site is hosted on Webflow, Inc. in the United States. All Personal Information is stored in an encrypted and segregated manner and access is strictly limited to such Staq employees who need to access it to fulfil a service or instruction to you.

10.3 In some cases we may need to transfer your Information outside of the country or jurisdiction in which it was collected. We may need to transfer your Information in this way to perform our agreement with you, to fulfil a legal obligation, to protect the public interest and/or for our legitimate business interests, for example in the context of an outsourcing or business arrangement with our service providers and affiliates.

10.4 Whenever we transfer your Information outside of the country or jurisdiction in which it was collected we will ensure that it is protected by us in a manner that is consistent and permissible under applicable data protection rules.

10.5 Depending on the kind of product or Staq service that is used, your Personal Information may also be disclosed to third parties domiciled in jurisdictions which are deemed not to have an appropriate level of data protection. If data is transferred to such a country, we take appropriate measures (for example, relying on contractual arrangements such as following the DIFC’s Standard Contractual Clauses or other precautions or justifications, as may be applicable) so that your Personal Information continues to receive the appropriate protection.

11. Security of your Personal Information

11.1 All information you provide to us is stored on our secure servers. Staq is committed to protecting the Personal Information you share with us. Once we have received your Information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent your Information from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way.

11.2 We rely on a combination of industry-standard security technologies, procedures, and organisational measures to help protect your Personal Information from accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, your Personal Information transmitted, stored or otherwise processed by us.

11.3 We advise that you take every precaution to protect your Personal Information when you are accessing our Site and using the Staq services. For example, when we have given you  (or where you have chosen) a password that enables you to access certain parts of our Site, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone. We recommend that you change your passwords regularly, use a combination of letters and numbers when creating passwords, and make sure you use a secure browser.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold us and our affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, suppliers or licensors harmless from and against any liabilities, losses, damages or costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, incurred in connection with or arising from any third-party claims, allegations, disputes, actions or demands asserted against any of them as a result of or relating to your content, data, your use of our Site or services or any wilful misconduct on your part.

13. Cookies

13.1 Staq uses technologies such as Cookies and web beacons, which allow us to make your visit to our Site easier, more efficient and more valuable by providing you with a customised experience and recognising you when you return.

13.2 A Cookie cannot read Personal Information off your hard disk or read Cookie files created by other websites. The only Personal Information a Cookie can contain is information you supply yourself. Accepting the Cookies used on our Site may give us access to Usage Information about your browsing behaviour, which we may use to personalise your experience and track your User traffic patterns, and to merge this information when you register. We do this in order to determine the usefulness of our Site information to our Users and to see how effective our navigational structure is in helping Users reach that information.

13.3 In addition, Staq uses web beacons in conjunction with Cookies to understand User behaviour. Web beacons are simply a convenient way of gathering basic statistics and managing Cookies and do not give away any extra information from your computer. Turning off your browser's Cookies will prevent web beacons from tracking your specific activity.

13.4 If you prefer not to receive Cookies while browsing our Site you can set your browser to warn you before it accepts Cookies or refuse the Cookie when your browser alerts you to its presence. You may browse most of our Site without accepting Cookies, however some functionality may be lost by disabling Cookies on your computer. Certain features of the Site, particularly those which require a login and password, require Cookies and cannot be used when you have disabled Cookies in your browser.

14. Linked Websites and Services

Our Site and the Staq services may provide links or directly connect with other third party websites, Developer Applications and services (such as those of our Clients) which are outside of our control and are not covered by this Notice. Staq bears no responsibility for the information collected or used by any third party website or application, and you release us from any liability for the conduct of these third parties. We encourage you to review the privacy policies and notices of any third party website that you access, including the privacy notice of the application through which you access the Staq services.

15. Service Providers

Staq may engage third party service providers from time to time. These service providers may have access to your Personal Information only to the extent necessary to perform the tasks assigned to them by us. All service providers engaged by Staq are legally required to maintain the confidentiality of your Personal Information, have in place systems and controls to protect against any loss or damage to your Personal Information, and must not disclose or use your Personal Information for any other purpose other than as they are instructed.

16. Children's Privacy

Our Site is not intended for use by individuals under the age of 18 ("Child" or "Children") without parent or guardian supervision. We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from Children. If you become aware that a Child has provided us with Personal Information, please contact us immediately. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Information from a Child without parental or guardian consent, we will take steps to remove that Information from our servers.

17. Retention of Personal Information

17.1 To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or other requirements.

17.2 We will only retain your Personal Information for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including to satisfy any legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or reporting requirements.

17.3 On occasion, we may retain your Personal Information for a longer period, and even after you stop using the Staq services, in order to: (i) to respond to enquiries and complaints; (ii) to comply with laws and regulations; (iii) in accordance with our internal policies and procedures; or (iv) to protect our interests.

18. Contact us

Should you have any privacy-related questions or comments related to this Notice, please send an email to hello@staq.io or you may contact us at the relevant address below:

The Data Controller shall be Staq Technologies (DIFC) Ltd, 05, Level 1, Gate Avenue - South Zone, Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.