Privacy policy

The website fundingsouq.com/ae/ and the Funding Souq online platform app .fundingsouq.com/ae/ are owned and operated by Funding Souq Limited, a company incorporated in the Dubai International Financial Centre, under DFSA’s license number F005822 and whose registered office and principal place of business is at 22, Fintech Hive, DIFC, Dubai, UAE (“Funding Souq”).

This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) sets forth the reasons for and manner by which Funding Souq collects, processes, and uses the personal and other information collected from visitors of the Site and the users of the Platform.

By accessing and continuing to use this Site, users confirm that they (a) have read and understood this Policy in its entirety, (b) agree to be bound by all its provisions, and (c) consent to the collection and processing of their personal information in accordance with this Policy. Users who do not accept any of the provisions of this Policy should discontinue use of and leave this Site.

Funding Souq respects the right of Site users to their privacy and affirms its commitment to practices which promote responsible handling of personal information.

1. Collection of Personal Information

Personal information may be collected from Site visitors and Platform users through, among others:
Availing of services available or requested through the Site;
Information provided by third parties, including credit reference agencies, fraud prevention agencies, and/or other publicly available sources;
Interaction with Funding Souq;
Visit and use of the Site Access via digital devices;
Voluntary submission via the Site; and
Communication by letters, e-mails, telephone, or any other means.

2. Collection of Personal Information Through External Sources

In addition to personal details (e.g. name, employment, passport details, contact information, and residence), Funding Souq may likewise collect from Site visitors and Platform users the following:
Transaction history, including the details of any bank account used in connection therewith, income details, and similar information.
The credit information and history of Site visitors and Platform users applying to establish a client relationship with Funding Souq (“Applicants”), requested from credit reference agencies covering the Applicants’ business associates, the Applicants’ business accounts, and the ultimate beneficial owners of the Applicants’ business and their and their business associates’ accounts. Funding Souq may likewise obtain information from fraud prevention agencies to obtain information on the Applicants’ their business, financial and business partners, beneficiaries, and residence. The Applicants, site visitors and users hereby acknowledge that through this Policy, Funding Souq has made a satisfactory disclosure regarding collection of their personal details (either obtained directly or through external third parties) and have consented to the aforementioned disclosure and the use of their personal information.
Technical information relating to the use of the Site, including the visitor’s (a) IP address; login information; browser type, version, time zone setting, plug-in types, and version; operating system and platform; and (b) use of the Site, including the full Uniform Resource Locators (URL), clickstream to, through, and from the Site (including date and time), services viewed or searched for, download errors, page response times, length of visits to certain pages, page interaction information (such as scrolling, clicks, and mouse-overs), and methods used to leave the Site; and
Anonymous data on Site visitors for business analytical and reportorial purposes and for the calculation of referral fees. Data collected and used in this manner do not involved personal information which may reveal the identity of an individual person.
By providing their personal information or otherwise using the Site and the Platform, visitors and users give their consent to the collection and use of their personal information as set forth in this Policy. Site visitors and Platform users who disagree with any provision of this Policy should leave the Site and desist from further using the Platform.

3. Use of Personal Information

Funding Souq may use the personal information of its clients for the following purposes:
Administer and operate their Funding Souq investor or business account;
Update information about Site visitors and Platform users;
Detection and prevention of crimes, including fraud and money laundering using scoring methods;
Verify their identities and any other information they provide for regulatory compliance;
Analyze, assess, and improve Funding Souq services, and for training and monitoring purposes;
To establish, exercise, or defend against legal claims;
To personalize offer of services to Site visitors and Platform users;
To provide Site visitors and Platform users with news and updates about Funding Souq and its services;
To craft legally binding instruments, including Finance Contracts, for use by business and investors to formalize their financing agreements;
To perform statistical analysis and market research;
To manage and improve the Site, further develop the Platform, and enhance Funding Souq services in general; and
To comply with regulatory requirements, including “know your customer” obligations, and to carry out regulatory checks.
Site visitors and Platform users may opt out of Funding Souq mailing and communication distribution lists by sending an e-mail to [email protected], which will be given effect within reasonable time and without prejudice to any communication which Funding Souq is required by law or regulation to send.
Approved businesses
Personal information on individuals associated with approved businesses (e.g. managing partners, controllers & authorized signatories, etc.) may be used for the following purposes:
Display certain financial ratios on the Platform, as required by law;
Enforcement of and collection of debts incurred through Funding Souq;
Evaluation of credit application, including scoring methods;
Display beneficial owner information on the Platform, as required by law; and
Verify information on applications for credit and other related facilities.

4. Disclosure and Transfer of Information

Funding Souq may disclose and transfer collected personal information, with owners’ consent, to duly licensed third- party service providers and affiliated companies, including:
Carefully selected third parties offering customized services;
Support service vendors, including information technology support and professional services and to companies which perform certain functions on behalf of Funding Souq, including information verification;
Other affiliates of Funding Souq for the purposes of maintenance of the Site and Platform;
Specialist third party service providers providing Funding Souq with business services;
Third parties who may acquire Funding Souq and its assets in all transactions related thereto;
Governmental bodies, regulatory authorities, or law enforcement agencies with competent jurisdiction, when required by law or regulation;
Credit reference agencies collecting information on the Applicants, their businesses, and their business associates; and
When such disclosure is necessary to protect, defend, or enforce Funding Souq’s rights under the Terms or any other agreements it may have entered into with its users. Such third parties, including collection agencies and/or lawyers may be located abroad and may require the transfer of information outside of the country of collection.
Funding Souq will not disclose, sell, or rent personal information to any third party other than as set out in this Policy without the prior consent of the concerned owner. Owners of personal information who retract their consent to the collection and use of their personal information may send an e-mail to [email protected], which will be acted upon within reasonable time. Funding Souq is not obliged to act upon any disclosure, transfer, or other processing of personal information prior to such request.

5. Personal Information of Applicant Businesses - Disclosure

In addition to the uses set forth under Section 4 above, personal information about registered Businesses, seeking financing through the Platform (Applicant Businesses) may likewise be disclosed to:
Investors who provided their funds pursuant to a Finance Contract (Participating Investors);
Other registered Investors on the Platform, providing financing to the other applicant businesses registered on the Platform;
With the consent of Applicant Businesses, reputable credit brokers in case their loan applications are denied with no other funding alternative, if there is reason to believe that the said credit brokers may aid the concerned Applicant Businesses in securing financing;
Credit reference agencies for the recording of information pertaining to their applications, businesses, associates, and management of financings, excluding, however, any management account information;
Fraud prevention agencies for reference by third parties conducting similar credit and background checks;
Other affiliates as may be required to enforce the terms of any agreement they may have entered into;
Third parties to be correlated with information on financing facility and/or credit applications for purposes of fraud detection and prevention; and
Trusted third parties, service providers or agents entailing a transfer of personal information from within the DIFC to recipients outside the DIFC, and vice versa.
Personal information of the Applicant Business will be provided to prospective investors on their financing page/marketplace. Once the information is posted on marketplace, such information may also be available online to other registered /authorized users of the Platform. Funding Souq has no control or responsibility for the ways that other users may use said information. Applicant Businesses and Investors understand and agree that, as a requirement of entering into a specific Finance Contract, it will be necessary for certain information to be shared with the other parties. Applicant Businesses consent to the disclosure of it’s company name, registration details and contact details for the service of notices, etc. to the Investors and other relevant third parties. Investors consent to the disclosure of their names and passport numbers (for individual investors) or company name and registration details (for Corporate Investors) to the Applicant Businesses and other relevant third parties .
The level of personal information protection in locations outside DIFC may be less than that offered within the DIFC, however, the sharing or transfer of information to such locations will be subject to adequate procedures to ensure the protection of personal information. These procedures may include putting steps in place to ensure that all such recipient entities keep all personal information confidential and secure and for use only for the purposes that are specified and disclosed to the Users or owners of the personal inforation. In relation to any other third parties, Funding Souq will only disclose personal information with the owner’s consent or where and when required to do so by law or regulation, or where it is need for or related to legal proceedings or as a requirement for the exercise or defending legal interests.

6. Transactional Information of Investors - Disclosure

Transactional information of the Investors may also be shared for the purposes of regulatory compliance, as may be necessary or relevant, excluding however, postal addresses and payment details. Investors’ full names and amount of investment will be indicated in all Finance Contracts they enter into. Funding Souq, its directors, officers, employees, affiliates, agents, contractors, and/or licensors, will ensure strict confidentiality of this information. Nevertheless, they will not be liable for any misuse of information disclosed to relevant parties for regulatory compliance purposes. Any concern with the use of personal information of an Investor by any relevant party should be raised immediately.

7. Legal Compliance

Users’ personal information may be shared with third parties when required by law, such as for the prevention of fraud and money laundering, and for purposes of:
Administering financings and financing accounts or facilities (indirectly via licensed third parties);
Debt recovery; and
Checking details on applications for financings or other facilities.
Information collected from Users are stored only for such length of time as may be necessary to achieve the purposes for which they were collected or as may be required by law.
Deliberate provision of false or inaccurate information or any other action giving rise to suspicion of fraud by Users may oblige Souq to disclose pertinent information to fraud prevention agencies or the authorities. Funding Souq and third parties may access and use information provided by fraud prevention agencies, including those from other countries and vice versa.

8. User Rights

Notification
Through this Privacy Policy, Users are informed as detailed above, of how such information will be used, the legal basis for such collection, the parties with whom the information will be shared, how long the information will be stored, and their rights relative to such information.
Information Access
Users may request for a copy of the information collected on them, unless such disclosure will be prejudicial to third parties or if the law allows non-compliance with such request. Requests may be sent to [email protected] and a response may be expected within thirty (30) days.
Right to correction
Users may request the correction of any information deemed inaccurate, which will be performed at the soonest possible time and subject to proof, as may be need (e.g. change of name due to marriage must be supported by a marriage certificate).
Right to Erasure (“Right to Be Forgotten”)
Users may request for the deletion of their personal information for the following reasons:
They believe that the law requires Funding Souq to delete their information;
They believe that their data is being used unlawfully;
They believe that there is no more reason for Funding Souq to continue holding their information; or
They believe that there is no longer any legitimate reasons for Funding Souq to continue processing their information.
Processing Restriction
Users may request Funding Souq to stop further processing of their information for the following reasons:
The information needed to be preserved for use in legal proceedings;
They have made a request for the deletion of the information and such request is under consideration;
They believe that continued processing of their information is illegal; or
They believe the information being processed to be inaccurate.
Data Portability
Users whose information are being used with their consent or in order to perform contractual obligations to them may request for a copy of their personal information in a structured, commonly-used and machine-readable format or have the same transmitted to another data holder.
Notification to Third Parties
Users may request Funding Souq to notify third parties with whom their information has been shared whenever the said information has been amended, deleted, or the use thereof has been restricted.
Objections for Proprietary Use of Information
Users may object to the use of their personal information for purposes of Funding Souq’s business development, marketing, and promotion.
The Users’ exercise of their rights under this item may be curtailed on compelling legitimate grounds or when necessary in order to comply with legal and/or regulatory requirements.
Requests for the exercise of any of the rights under this item may be sent to [email protected].

9. Cookies

For a highly customized experience and service delivery, this Site makes use of small data files placed on the Users’ computers (“cookies”) which are used to store bits of information about their interactions with this Site. Such cookies may include:
Analytical/Performance Cookies – Cookies which collect information on the manner Users use this Site, including navigation behavior and errors encountered, excluding any information which can be used to identify Users. All information collective by such type of cookies are anonymous and are used solely for analytical and site improvement purposes;
Targeting Cookies – Cookies which log a User’s visit to this Site, including links followed and pages visited. Such cookies are linked to third party services, including social media sharing functionalities. The said services are provided by third parties in exchange for recognizing a User’s visit to this Site;
Strictly Necessary Cookies – Cookies which do not gather information about Users that could be used for marketing purposes or storing their browsing history, but are required for the operation of this Site, including provision of access to secure areas thereof; and
Functionality Cookies – Cookies which store information that enable the determination of a User’s identity and preferences for purposes of content customization.
Strictly Necessary Cookies generally expire when a User leaves this Site and exit the browser application. Other cookies may be more permanent or may not expire unless actively deleted. More information about cookies can be found on this site: http://www.aboutcookies.org/.
Users may control this Site’s use of cookies through modification of their browser settings. However, such modification may negatively impact this Site’s experience, functionality, and/or accessibility.

10. Security

While Funding Souq takes all appropriate technical, organizational, and other measures to safeguard all personal information collected through this site, in no case shall it or its directors, officers, employees, affiliates, agents, contractors, and/or licensors be liable if communications or other personal information are intercepted by third parties, delayed, or incorrectly delivered or not delivered.

11. Changes to the Terms and Conditions

Funding Souq reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to modify or amend this Privacy Policy and its Terms and Conditions at any time. It is the users’ responsibility to keep abreast of any changes thereto to ensure their understanding thereof and compliance therewith. Any modification and amendment to this Privacy Policy and it’s Terms and Conditions are effective and binding upon users immediately upon posting of the updated version on the Site. By continuing to use this Site, users assent to be bound by the modified or amended Privacy Policy and it’s Terms and Conditions and to the collection, use, storage, or otherwise processing of their personal information in accordance therewith. Any modification and/or amendment to this Privacy Policy and it’s Terms and Conditions will be posted on this Site and shall constitute sufficient notice to the Users of such changes.

12. Third Party Sites

This Privacy Policy and it’s Terms and Conditions apply only to personal information collected on this Site and do not extend to other sites owned by third parties, even though the links thereto may be contained in this Site. Users shall be responsible for reading and understanding the terms and conditions of such third-party sites.

13. Queries on Data Privacy

Any questions or concerns on the collection, storage, and processing of your personal information on Funding Souq and other matters relating to data privacy may be communicated via e-mail through [email protected].