Privacy Policy

‍Our Privacy Principles

At the core of Blinq's product is the ability for you to share your information with the people you choose. As a result, data privacy is critical to the product we offer. At Blinq, we believe in the importance of being able to control who gets that information.

To reflect this importance, we've designed our product with made several principles in mind that are intended to protect your data and privacy:

Your data is yours

We do not sell your Personal Information to third parties. It's just not what we do here at Blinq. Your data is yours to share with your network.

Secure Storage

Blinq uses industry-standard security measures, including encryption and access controls, to protect your information.

Safe Sharing

Every Blinq Card has a unique code and web address. Those you share your information with will be able to look at your details. If they share your card with others or their company, others may be able to view your details.

Control and Transparency

Blinq aims to be transparent about how your information is used and give you tools to manage your data and privacy preferences.

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Introduction

This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) describes how the Personal Information you may provide in the Blinq software applications (“Software Applications” or “Service”) and any of its related products and services (collectively, the “Services”) is collected, held, protected and used. It also describes the choices available to you regarding our use of your Personal Information and how you can access and update this information or contact us with questions about our privacy practices. Blinq Technologies Pty Ltd (“Blinq Technologies Pty Ltd”, “we”, “us” or “our”, “Blinq”) is the operator of the Business Card Application and related Services. By accessing and using the Software Applications and Services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Policy. We handle Personal Information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). This Policy does not apply to the practices of companies that we do not own or control, or to individuals that we do not employ or manage.

Automatic collection of information

Our top priority is customer data security. When you use the Software Applications and Services, certain information may be collected automatically by our systems. Information collected automatically is used to help maintain the security and operation of the Software Applications and Services, identify potential cases of abuse, monitor system performance and establish statistical information regarding the usage of the Software Application and Services.

Collection of personal information

You may access certain parts of the Services without directly identifying yourself. If, however, you wish to use some of the features in the Software Applications, you may be asked to provide certain Personal Information (for example, your name and email address). We receive and store any information you knowingly provide to us when you create an account, make a purchase, or fill any online forms in the Software Applications. When required, this information may include the following:

personal details such as name, country of residence, etc;
contact information such as email address, address, etc;
account details such as user name, unique user ID, password, etc;
payment information such as credit card details, bank details, etc (which may be handled by third-party providers);
geolocation data such as latitude and longitude; and
Information collected through features on your mobile device (such as contacts, camera, microphone or similar features) where you choose to enable those permissions in connection with specific functionality of the Software Applications;
Audio including voice recordings where this functionality is used;

In relation to staff and job applicants, information we collect may include:

experience, qualifications, skills and character;
screening checks (e.g., reference, background, health, directorship, identity, eligibility to work, vocational suitability and criminal record checks);
drug and alcohol checks;
conduct and performance at work;
use of workplace resources and IT;
payroll and superannuation details;
emergency contacts.

In some cases, we need to collect personal information pursuant to applicable laws including the Income Tax Assessment Act and other tax laws, Corporations Act, Fair Work Act, Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act, occupational health and safety acts and workers compensation acts.

Direct and third party collection of data

Some of the information we collect is directly from you via the Software Applications and Services. However, we may also collect Personal Information about you from other sources where permitted by law, such as public databases, social media platforms, third-party data providers, and our joint marketing partners.

Personal Information we collect from other sources may include demographic information, such as age and gender, device information, such as IP addresses, location, such as city and state, employment information such as job title, role and company, contact information such as email address and phone number, and information relating to online activity, such as information about your use of social media websites, page view information and search results and links.

We collect this information to help operate and improve the Software Applications and Services, support marketing and business development activities, and maintain the accuracy of information we hold about our users.

You can choose not to provide us with certain Personal Information, but doing so may limit your ability to access or use some of the features in the Software Applications. Users who are uncertain about what information is required are welcome to contact us.

It is your responsibility to check local laws and regulations and obtain consent before recording others using Blinq’s audio features. You must ensure that your use of these features complies with applicable laws.

Information we collect about others

We may collect and process Personal Information about individuals who are not Blinq users, such as when our users create or enrich profiles of their business contacts. This information may include names, professional contact details, profile photos, and publicly available professional information.

In some cases, personal information may also be collected indirectly or incidentally through user interactions with the Software Applications and Services, including where users provide or share contact information about other individuals.

‍Users should only provide personal information about other individuals where they are authorised to do so or where it is reasonable to expect that the information would be shared in a professional context.

Cookies

Our websites may also use cookies. A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that may be placed on your device when you visit our website(s). These cookies recognise when your device has visited our website(s) before, so we can distinguish you from other users of the website.

We use cookies to improve your experience on our website(s), including by enabling website functionality, remembering preferences and helping us understand how visitors use our website(s). If you do not wish to use the cookies, you can amend the settings on your internet browser so it will not automatically download cookies. However, if you remove or block cookies on your computer, please be aware that your browsing experience and our website’s functionality may be affected.

Website analytics

Our website uses Google Analytics, Segment, Amplitude, Hightough and Datadog to help us better understand visitor traffic, so we can improve our services. These tools may collect technical information such as IP address, device information, pages visited and interactions with our website. This information is typically analysed in aggregated or de-identified form, although in some circumstances it may be possible to associate certain technical information with an individual user.

Use and processing of collected information

In order to make the Software Applications and Services available to you, or to meet a legal obligation, we need to collect and use certain Personal Information. If you do not provide the information that we request, we may not be able to provide you with the requested products or services. Any of the information we collect from you may be used for the following purposes:

create and manage user accounts;
deliver products or services;
improve products and services;
send administrative information;
respond to inquiries and offer support;
request user feedback;
improve user experience;
enforce terms and conditions and policies;
protect from abuse and malicious users;
respond to legal requests and prevent harm;
run and operate the Software Applications and Services.

Where required under applicable data protection laws, the processing of your Personal Information depends on how you interact with the Software Application and Services, where you are located in the world, and whether processing is necessary to:

process information with your consent where required by law;
perform a contract with you or take steps prior to entering into a contract;
comply with a legal obligation;
pursue legitimate business interests (provided these are not overridden by your rights and interests);

We may obtain additional information about individuals from third-party data providers, public databases, and other lawful sources to enrich and improve the accuracy of contact profiles on Blinq. This may involve providing limited information we already hold (such as a name or email address) to these providers and receiving updated or supplementary information in return.

We process this information to support our legitimate business interests, including enabling users to manage professional contacts, improve data accuracy, prevent fraud, and enhance the functionality of our services.

We do not use data enrichment to obtain sensitive personal information, nor do we use enriched data for advertising, credit eligibility, or profiling unrelated to professional contact management.

Billing and payments

We use third party payment processors to assist us in processing payments securely. When you make a payment through the Software Applications and Services, certain payment and transaction information may be provided directly to these processors in order to complete the transaction. Such third party processors' use of your Personal Information is governed by their respective privacy policies. We suggest that you review their respective privacy policies to understand how your information is handled by those providers.

Managing information

You are able to delete certain Personal Information we hold about you. The Personal Information you can delete may change as the Software Applications and Services evolve. When you delete Personal Information, however, we may maintain a copy of the unrevised Personal Information in our records for the duration necessary to comply with our obligations to our affiliates and partners, and for the purposes described below. If you would like to delete your Personal Information or permanently delete your account, you can do so by contacting us.

Choices and rights for Non-Users

Individuals whose information appears on Blinq but who are not Blinq users may request access to, correction of, or deletion of their personal information by contacting us at [email protected].

If you are located in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you may have additional rights under applicable data protection laws, including the GDPR. We will handle your request in accordance with those laws.

Disclosure of information

Depending on the requested Services or as necessary to complete any transaction or provide any service you have requested, we may share your information with our trusted third parties that work with us and any other affiliates and subsidiaries we rely upon to assist in the operation of the Software Applications and Services available to you.

These service providers are not authorized to use or disclose your information except as necessary to perform services on our behalf or comply with legal requirements. We require these providers to handle personal information in accordance with applicable privacy obligations.

Information you provide in connection with text messaging opt-in will not be shared with any third parties, excluding aggregators and providers of the text messaging services.

We will disclose any Personal Information we collect, use or receive if required or permitted by law, such as to comply with a subpoena, or similar legal process, and when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request.

In the event we go through a business transition, such as a merger or acquisition by another company, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, Personal Information associated with user accounts may be transferred as part of that transaction.

Retention of information

We may hold your Personal Information in electronic or other forms. In some cases, we may use a third party service provider, such as hosting or cloud infrastructure providers, to store your information. In any event, we take reasonable steps to ensure that Personal Information we hold about you is kept confidential and secure.

We will retain and use your Personal Information for the period necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements and operate our services, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. We may use any aggregated data derived from or incorporating your Personal Information after you update or delete it, but not in a manner that would identify you personally. Once the retention period expires, Personal Information shall be deleted.

Transfer of information

Depending on your location, the Personal Information we collect may be transferred to, stored in or processed in countries other than your own. Some of the third parties we disclose Personal Information to may be located outside Australia or may store or process information using servers located overseas.

Where we disclose your Personal Information to third parties overseas, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect personal information and that recipients handle personal information in accordance with applicable privacy obligations.

Overseas recipients may be located in a number of jurisdictions where our service providers operate data infrastructure. These jurisdictions may not have privacy laws that are equivalent to those in Australia.

Where required under applicable data protection laws, you may request information about the safeguards we use when transferring personal information outside your jurisdiction by contacting us using the details provided in this Policy.

Limited Use requirements

Blinq's use and transfer to any other app of information received from Google APIs will adhere to Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

The rights of users

You may exercise certain rights regarding your Personal Information processed by us. Depending on your location and applicable data protection laws, you may have the right to do the following:

withdraw consent where you have previously given your consent to the processing of your information;
object to the processing of your information in certain circumstances;
learn if information is being processed by us, obtain disclosure regarding certain aspects of the processing and obtain a copy of the information undergoing processing;
verify the accuracy of your information and ask for it to be updated or corrected;
request that the processing of your personal information be restricted in certain circumstances;
to obtain the erasure of your Personal Information from us;
you have the right to receive your information in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format and, if technically feasible, to have it transmitted to another controller without any hindrance.

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The right to object to processing

Where Personal Information is processed for legitimate business purposes, you may object to such processing by providing a ground related to your particular situation to justify the objection. You must know that, however, should your Personal Information be processed for direct marketing purposes, you can object to that processing at any time without providing any justification. If you would like to exercise this right or learn more about how your personal information may be used for marketing purposes, you may refer to the relevant sections of this Policy or contact us using the details provided below.

Data protection rights under GDPR and UK GDPR

Blinq Technologies Pty Ltd is committed to compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and the Data Protection Act 2018 (UK) (collectively in this Policy referred to as the “GDPR”) when handling personal data of individuals located in the European Union and the UK.

Legal basis for processing

Under the GDPR, we process personal data based on one or more of the following lawful bases:

the consent of the data subject, where consent is required for particular processing activities;
processing necessary for the performance of a contract with the data subject or to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract (for example, when creating and managing your account or providing our services);
compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject;
legitimate interests pursued by the controller or a third party, such as improving our services, preventing fraud, maintaining security and managing professional contact information.

Data transfers

Personal data may be transferred to and processed in countries outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”) and the UK where our service providers operate. When we transfer personal data outside the EEA or the UK, we ensure adequate safeguards are in place to protect the privacy and security of personal data, which may include the use of Standard Contractual Clauses or other legally recognised transfer mechanisms required in accordance with applicable data protection laws, including the GDPR.

Data subject rights

If you are a resident of the EEA or the UK, you may have the following data protection rights under the GDPR::

You have the right to access personal data we hold about you;
You have the right to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data;
You have the right to request deletion of personal data in certain circumstances;
You have the right to object or restrict the processing of your personal data;
You have the right to be provided with a copy of the information we have on you in a structured, machine-readable and commonly used format.
You also have the right to withdraw your consent at any time where Blinq Technologies Pty Ltd relied on your consent to process your personal data;

You have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority if you believe your data protection rights have been violated.
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Additional disclosures for California residents

Residents of California may have additional rights afforded to them under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA). The disclosures in this section apply only to California residents and are intended to supplement the information in this Policy.

The CCPA and CPRA give resident users various rights with respect to the personal information we collect, including the right to (subject to certain limitations):

request to know the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about them, including the categories of sources from which the information was collected and the purposes for collecting it;;
request that Blinq delete all of your personal information;
request that Blinq correct inaccurate personal information;
opt out from the “sale” of your personal information;
opt out of the “sharing” of your personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising;
the right to non-discriminatory treatment for exercising any rights;

In certain limited circumstances involving security breaches affecting personal information, California residents may also have a right to bring a private action under California law.

The categories of personal information we may have collected, the purposes for which we may have collected and disclosed such personal information, the categories of recipients of disclosures of such personal information made for business purposes, and the categories of recipients of disclosures that may be “sales” or “sharing” of personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising under California law, in each case in the past 12 months, are set out below

Category of personal information

Purpose(s) for collecting and disclosing personal information

Recipients of disclosures of personal information for business purposes

Recipients of disclosures that may be “sales” or “sharing” of personal information

Identifiers (such as name, email address, postal address, phone number, citizenship)

Provide Services; fraud prevention; analytics; security monitoring