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Privacy Statement 2019

If you have entered into an Agreement with us on these Terms, we recommend that you download and keep a permanent copy for future reference.

Introduction

At MessageBird, we do everything in our power to protect your data and give you full control over your personal data on our platform. Our aim is that you always feel informed and empowered with respect to safeguarding your own privacy, and the privacy of your customers. As a Cloud Communication Platform as a Service (CPaaS), we process personal data in order to deliver our services. This privacy statement contains information about what data we collect, why we collect it, and how we handle that data.

This version of our Privacy Statement has been updated to give you a better understanding of how we treat personal data and to call your attention to new features. The updated document is more user-friendly and addresses new data protection regulations, including GDPR.

This Agreement is made between MessageBird B.V., a private company with limited liability incorporated under Dutch law, with registered office in Amsterdam and principal place of business at Trompenburgstraat 2C, (1079 TX) Amsterdam, registered with the Trade Register of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce under number 51874474 (“MessageBird”), and Customer.

The Agreement governs Customer’s licensing and use of the Services. By executing an Order Form that references this Agreement or by using our Services, Customer agrees to the terms of this Agreement as of the Effective Date.

Any deviation from this Agreement shall only be valid if and agreed upon by and between the Parties in writing.

WHEAREAS:

MessageBird is a Cloud Communication Platform as a Service (CpaaS) provider and offers solutions to companies and businesses for the sending and receipt of electronic communication.
Customer wishes to use MessageBird’s Cloud Communication Service in its business operation.
MessageBird wishes to provide Cloud Communications Services to Customer and Customer wishes to use and pay for Cloud Communication Services in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual agreements, covenants and representations contained herein, the Parties agree to the following:

MessageBird is a Cloud Communication Platform as a Service (CpaaS) provider and offers solutions to companies and businesses for the sending and receipt of electronic communication.
Customer wishes to use MessageBird’s Cloud Communication Service in its business operation.
MessageBird wishes to provide Cloud Communications Services to Customer and Customer wishes to use and pay for Cloud Communication Services in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual agreements, covenants and representations contained herein, the Parties agree to the following:

About MessageBird

MessageBird is a Cloud Communication Platform as a Service (CPaaS) that's disrupting the communications industry with innovative Voice, SMS, Chat, and RCS solutions. Our customers are generally companies that integrate our services in their business operations.

We only ask for personal data when we need it for business purposes or to provide you with relevant information. Whether you sign up for our newsletter or sign a Service Agreement, you leave your personal data with us for a particular purpose. You always have the opportunity to explicitly agree to the collection, use, disclosure, and sharing of the information you’ve provided. That applies even when you're browsing our website, where you can manage your cookie preferences. You can review your personal data and change your settings at all times.

Since customers integrate our products in their own software applications, we don’t interact with their end users directly. When customers do share end user information with us, we always handle the data in accordance with data protection regulations, including GDPR. We don’t use that data for any purposes, other than specifically issued by the customer who provides the data.

Throughout this document you’ll encounter the mention of several roles and responsibilities. Here’s a quick explanation of different roles, responsibilities, and systems of governance that are an integral part in ensuring your data is protected.

Controller is the company that an individual (or data subject) provides their personal data to. The Controller determines the purpose for the personal data (e.g. to receive important information or for sending invoices) and is responsible for the correct handling of the data subject’s data.

Processor is the company that provides part of the service of the Controller, and needs specific personal data in control of the Controller order to do so. To give an example: when one of our customers sends a campaign through our platform, we need personal data such as a phone number to fulfil the service. The Processor only processes personal data according to the instructions of the Controller.

Depending on your relationship with MessageBird, we can be both Controller and Processor. If you have any questions about these terms or more general inquiries about how we handle identifiable data, you can always contact us at privacy@messagebird.com or send a written inquiry to:

MessageBird B.V.

attn. Legal Department (Privacy)

Trompenburgstraat 2C

1079 TX Amsterdam

The Netherlands

Why we collect personal data

All the personal data we process is lawfully obtained and with a legal basis. The purpose of the information we collect is so we can continue to conduct and expand our day-to-day business, and enable you to use our services. Personal data can also help us to improve our products to fit the needs of our customers.

Just as keeping your data safe is our priority, so is protecting your rights and freedom as an individual, all in full compliance with global standards of rules and regulations for the protection of data. We process personal data based on a limited set of legal bases: 1) explicit consent (e.g. ticking a box on our website when you want to download product information), 2) signing a contract to receive a MessageBird service, 3) a legitimate interest to do so (e.g. web analytics or direct marketing when there is an existing relationship), and 4) we have a legal obligation to do so (such as storing financial billing data for the time-period required).

We collect personal data for specific purposes, and we’ll always tell you what those are when we collect it. We’ll use the collected data for that purpose alone, as long as our relationship stays the same. If our relationship changes, we may need more information. For example, if you fill out a form to request more information, we’ll use your data to send it to you. If you then decide to become a customer, we need additional information including your billing address.

Here’s a list of the purposes we need information for.

Sharing relevant information about our products and services,
Creating an account that’s connected to your person and company,
Analysing usage of our products and services,
Detecting fraudulent or unlawful activity,
Keeping your account secure.

You will always have the choice to provide personal data on our domain or not. Please keep in mind that declining to provide personal data might fairly mean that you cannot use a certain product or service. We will tell you the implications of not providing the information asked for when you choose not to do so.

In order to develop our business, we make use of third parties that supply us with information collected from publicly available sources and data enrichment providers. The information we collect is based on personas created by automated processes. In order to make sure we only approach the right audience, we only retain information that will help us reach out to people and companies that would benefit from the use of our services and products. If you no longer want to be contacted by our sales team, you can always object.

What data we collect

The exact type of data we collect depends on the related product or service. Setting your privacy settings on our website, signing up for a newsletter, downloading marketing materials, or using any of our products and services all require you to leave appropriate details, specific to that purpose. We never collect more data than we need and may ask for additional data at the appropriate time.

The personal data we collect may include depending on our relationship:

Name,
Contact details,
Account credentials,
Financial data,
Usage data,
Location data,
Content data.

How we collect and use data

To be thorough, we've listed how we collect personal data and how it will be used. The information below is not exhaustive and might be updated in accordance to new legislation, or because further clarification is needed based on a new product or service.

When browsing our website we automatically collect data by placing cookies and trusted tracking technologies on your browser. The information we collect helps us to maintain and improve our website and business and usually includes your IP address, browser type, the pages you've visited and in what order, and if your a new or recurring visitor.

We use this data to ensure the website works correctly and to store any preferences you may have. It also helps us show relevant advertisements, to generate and review data, and create reports describing our website user base and usage patterns.

When filling out a web form on our website, you directly interact with us. When you ‘Talk to Sales’, 'Suggest an Integration, ‘Talk to Support’ through our live chat window, send us an email, or subscribe to our newsletter we hold the right to use the data you provide.

Whenever you sign up on our website, we ask for some personal data like your email address, company, name, and the content of your inquiries. The particular fields to fill in may differ per form, we'll never ask you for irrelevant information, and we'll always use the data for the purpose you submitted it for.

If you're already a customer and you reach out for assistance through our website, we'll use the data collected from your account. That gives us relevant insight into how you’re using our platform, what your business needs are, past support issues, and so on. Pulling this information allows us to tailor our assistance and provide the best possible support.

When creating a free trial account, you need to fill out some personal data. The information we ask for is limited to what we need to provide you with the trial account. If you sign up by linking a third party account, you allow a third party to share basic profile information needed to create a personal account with MessageBird.

We always ask you to authenticate yourself when activating your account by sending an activation link sent to the email address you provided. All you have to do next is log-in with your username and password and you're ready to get started. Activating your account with a confirmation link proves to us that you created the account and that you're human.

When you start using the product during or after your free trial, we will ask for your phone number. Your number is used to send test messages, allows our support team to contact you, and allows for two-factor authentication on your account.

When buying credits or subscribing to a plan, we need more information than just your name and password. In order to start billing, we need information including your company details, billing address and preferred payment method(s). You’re assigned an Account ID automatically that’s used to process your orders, assign invoices, and track API requests. If you integrate our APIs into your software application, you'll be given an authentication token that allows us to identify you when you send API requests.

Your credentials help us to improve our internal processes and services. We keep account credentials on record to identify the account that assigns the API commands, and to make sure the account manager and our support team can store and access relevant information about your account.

Sometimes, we're legally required to collect additional information depending on the service. For instance, if you want to operate in Canada, Denmark, Malaysia, or the United States, you need specific approval. You request this on your account portal. To do so, we require details like the purpose of your campaign, and a template or example SMS that you would send via MessageBird. We then share this information with local authorities of the country you specified to complete the procedure.

When using our products and services, we collect what commands your application communicates to MessageBird. This includes your IP addresses, information on your usage, and routing information.

Government Requests

We won’t share your information with third parties without your permission, except when we’re required to by law.

We will only respond to government requests when we are legally obliged to do so. The request needs to 1) be sent from a government agency, 2) be issued where we are subject to the respective jurisdiction, 3) be an enforceable subpoena, search warrant, court order or similar official instrument compelling us to disclose the information requested, and 4) state the categories of records sought and specific time period.

International transfer of data (outside EEA area)

As a global, cloud based enterprise, our usage of the internet almost always involves the international transmission of personal data, both within and outside the EEA. If in our capacity as Processor an SMS message and the personal data involved transfer to a country outside the EEA, this is always determined by the use of our client in their role as Controller.

We take care to ensure our partners outside the EEA have sufficient guarantees and safeguards in place to properly treat and protect your data. Whether we're dealing with international mobile operators or other companies, we always make sure we contractually agree on data protection to protect the rights and freedoms of all individuals, inside and outside the EU, and ensure compliance with the GDPR.

Data security and compliance obligations

We do everything in our power to keep your data safe. We invest in state-of-the-art technology and thorough security screenings of our infrastructure and employees to minimise security risks.

Since all our accounts are password, and possibly two-factor authentication, protected, the only person with access to your account should be you. If your login information is stolen or used without your permission, it's imperative you notify us immediately so we can secure your account. You can do so by sending an email to privacy@messagebird.com with the subject 'Urgent: account credentials'.

If you want to know more about the measures we take to keep your data secure, check out our Security Statement. It contains information about the industry standard, administrative, technical, physical, and organizational safeguards designed to prevent unauthorized access and use of personal data.

Retention of personal data

How long we keep personal data depends on its nature and the purpose for which it was obtained. Personal data related to our services, such as telephone numbers, geographic data, and message body, have a default retention period of 6 months. We only keep information that can personally identify you for 12 months for marketing and sales purposes.

If you would like to review, amend, transfer or request to delete personal data during the default retention period, you can use dedicated features to do so. You can use our Data Request API for bulk requests. More specific requests can be submitted through easily accessible forms on our Dashboard.

If we've come to an agreement with you that we can store your data for an alternative period of time, we'll do that for as long as the agreement stipulates. After the agreed retention period, we might keep data in a non-identifiable form for archival, statistical and/or other legitimate purposes. None of it will be able to identify you as an individual.

Controlling your rights and choices

Even though we collect your data to conduct business, your data stays your own. You stay in control of your personal data and can at any time choose what you want us do with it.

You can at any time:

Change your cookie settings. When you visit our website for the first time, you can either allow us to place all the cookies we use on your browser, decide to accept specific ones or deny all our cookies. You can always change your preferences in your browser settings and the cookie settings on our website. Each setting has an explanation of the implications of accepting it or not.

Withdraw consent to our processing of your data. If for whatever reason you no longer want us to use your personal data, you’re free to change your mind. We will always comply with your request, unless we're legally required to keep your data. Which basically means that if there is any legal dispute, about for example outstanding invoices, we can keep your information until it’s resolved.

Control and review your data. You can always view, amend, delete, and transfer your personal data. If you want to edit your information, you can do so on our dashboard where you can find an overview of your personal data. If you don’t use the dashboard, you can get a copy of your personal data directly to update your information by sending a request to privacy@messagebird.com, our support staff, or send a written request directly to our headquarters in Amsterdam. We’ll process your request as soon as possible with a maximum of one a month of receiving it. If a request is complicated or we get too many requests to process at a given time period, our response time can be increased by two months. You’ll be informed when such an extension period applies. When you choose to delete your personal data, we hold the right to hold onto anonymised and aggregated data. If we do so, nothing will be able to identify you as a person in any way. If we’re required to retain your information for legal reasons, we will let you know in response to your request.

Object to and restrict the processing of data. When your personal data is being processed to fulfill a legitimate interest to us, such as marketing, you’re able to object and unsubscribe. You can always exercise your right to restrict processing, and we’ll make sure to process your data in the way you specify. We will assess each request on a case-by-case basis according to the rules set out by the GDPR. If we override your request, we need to demonstrate that we have compelling grounds to do so, or that there’s a legal claim which allows us to retain personal data. If you don’t agree with how we’ve handled your request, you can file a complaint with the Supervisory Authority of The Netherlands, the authority related to the Member State you live or work in, or the country in which the suspected infringement has taken place.

Children

Our services and products are not directed to children under the age of 18. We never knowingly collect and/or process any personal data from children under this age directly. If we discover we’ve received personal data from a child without parental or legal consent, we will immediately take reasonable steps to delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe we have any information from or about a child, please contact us at privacy@messagebird.com with the subject: ‘Children’.

Changes in our Privacy Statement

This statement might be subject to changes. We reserve the right to change, update, modify, or remove any part of this Privacy Statement at any time. If any modifications substantially affects your rights under this statement, we will send you an email where possible. You can always decide to continue to use our services or not in accordance with the new terms.

Changes in our Privacy Statement

If you have any dispute with us relating to our privacy practices, please contact our legal team at privacy@messagebird.com with the subject: ‘Dispute’. If we can’t reach an understanding via email, please refer to the Terms, which describes how disputes will be resolved between us. Please be sure to review the Terms before you use any of our products and services.

Contact us

If you have any questions left regarding the processing of your personal data when you use our website and services, or have any feedback or suggestions to make this policy better, please don’t not hesitate to contact us.

If you’re not satisfied with our reply, you may refer your complaint to the relevant regulator in your jurisdiction.

You can reach our Data Protection Officer at privacy@messagebird.com or at our HQ address: