Privacy Policy (Datenschutzerklärung) for Balu

Last updated: May 14, 2024

Privacy and security are very important to us at Balu. This privacy notice ("Notice") is intended to help you (the "End User") understand how we at Balu collect, use, and share your data when you use our products or services, for which we provide this notice, such as when you use the Balu platform for pet adoption or donations to animal welfare organizations (collectively, the "Balu Services").

This policy applies to Balu GmbH ("Balu," "we," "our," and "us"). You should read this policy carefully. It contains important information about your privacy rights and options.

Please read this notice carefully before using or transmitting data about or in connection with these services. By using any part of the services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to the collection, use, and disclosure of your data as described in this notice. To the extent permitted by law, the German version of this notice is binding, and its translations into other languages are for clarity. In case of discrepancies between the German version of this notice and its translations, the German version shall prevail.

DATA WE COLLECT

When you use the services or otherwise access the services, we collect information in several ways, as detailed below, such as when you provide information directly to us and when we collect information passively from your browser or device (e.g., by logging how you interact with our services).

A. Information provided directly by you:

I. Registration Data:
When you register for our services or open an account, we collect registration data such as your name, email address, login credentials, address, phone number (for multi-factor authentication and to send you important messages), and any information you provide to us (e.g., a profile picture).

II. Posting a Pet for Adoption:
When you post a pet for adoption, we collect the information you provide about the pet and display it through our services. For example, you can provide the pet's name, upload descriptions and pictures, and provide details about the adoption.

You might choose to provide information about third parties when creating a pet adoption listing, such as sharing pictures of a third party. By providing information in a listing, you agree to the collection, storage, disclosure, and use of your data by us. When you upload personal data of third parties, you acknowledge and agree that you have the authority and consent of the relevant third parties for us to access, disclose, and use the relevant data, and that you have notified and informed the third parties about how their data will be collected and used by Balu to provide the services.

III. Applicant Information:
You can apply for the adoption of one or more pets through our services. By applying, you agree that all the information registered in your profile will be shared with the associated animal welfare organization. This includes, but is not limited to, your name, email address, phone number, address, and other information that might help the organization decide about the adoption, such as your living conditions and experience with animals.

IV. Activating Donations:
When you create a donation feature within the services, we collect the information you provide about your fundraising campaign and display it through our services.

Our payment processors also collect and store information about your payout from fundraising campaigns. For more details, see "Information Collected by Our Payment Processors."

V. Setting Up Payout:
If you are the person benefitting from a donation (or the recipient of funds from a fundraising campaign), we may collect information, including your contact details (such as name and email address), postal code, country, your phone number (for multi-factor authentication and to send you important messages), and any information you provide to us.

VI. Donation Information:
When you donate to animal welfare organizations through our platform, we may collect information such as your contact details (e.g., name and email address), your physical address for billing purposes, postal code, country, and any information you provide to us (e.g., a description of why you donated).

Our payment processors collect your credit card information and other information necessary to process the donation, such as your home address. For more details, see "Information Collected by Our Payment Processors."

VII. Communications to Balu:
If you have questions about how Balu handles your data, you can contact us via email or other means. We collect the information you provide to us, such as your contact details and the content of your message.

VIII. Information About Other Parties:
You can provide us with information about other parties. For example, if you provide personal information about a person in a listing, you confirm that you have the consent of that person to share their personal information with us.

IX. Information Collected by Our Payment Processors:
We use Stripe and PayPal for payments, analytics, and other business services. These payment processors may collect personal data, including through cookies and similar technologies. The personal data they collect may include transaction data and information for identifying devices associated with these services. They use this information to operate and improve the services they provide to us, including for fraud detection, loss prevention, authentication, and analytics related to their services' performance. They operate both as processors for us and as independent data controllers for data they collect directly from our users.

You can learn more about Stripe and read their privacy policy at https://stripe.com/privacy. You can learn more about PayPal and read their privacy policy at https://www.paypal.com/us/legalhub/privacy-full.

B. Information Collected Passively or Automatically:

i. Types of Cookies:
Some cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with our services ("Essential Cookies"). Without these Essential Cookies, we cannot provide our services. We only use Essential Cookies.

Information to and from Social Networks: One of the unique features of the services is that you can sign in to the services through various social networks, such as Facebook or Google ("Social Network(s)"). By directly integrating these services, we aim to simplify your online experience. To use these features, we will ask you to provide your login credentials for the respective social network so that you can sign in to our services. When you add a social network account to the services or sign in to the services using your social network account, we collect relevant information necessary to enable the services to access the respective social network. As part of this integration, the social network provides us access to certain information you have provided to the social network (e.g., your name and photo, as well as other information you have permitted the social network to share with us).

We will use, store, and share this information in accordance with this notice. However, please note that how the social network uses, stores, and shares your data is governed by the policies of these third parties, and Balu assumes no liability or responsibility for the privacy practices or other actions of the social network enabled within the services. For example, if you sign in through Google, the Google Privacy Policy and Google Security Settings apply. If you sign in through Meta, the Meta Privacy Policy and Meta Terms of Service apply to the data Meta may collect from your activities on Balu. Please visit the terms of use and privacy policies of the respective social network to learn about your rights and choices regarding these technologies.

ii. Analytics:
We use Google Analytics to understand and analyze how visitors use our services and to improve the services. However, we do not store any Personally Identifiable Information (PII). For more details about Google's privacy and security, click here.

You can opt out of this tracking at any time by enabling the "Do Not Track" setting in your browser.

Why We Use Cookies:
We use cookies to collect information about your access to and use of the services, including to: (1) allow you to navigate our services and use all features provided by our services; (2) determine the number of individual visitors we receive; (3) offer you our services. If we introduce additional technologies, we may collect additional information through other methods. We will notify you of such changes by updating this privacy notice.

OUR USE OF THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT

Balu uses the data collected through the services in accordance with this notice. We may use the information you provide (or that the services are allowed to retrieve) for the following purposes:

A. Communication with You:
We use the data we collect to communicate with you for administrative purposes (e.g., to provide the services and information you requested). For example, if you contact us via email, we use the information you provide to answer your question or resolve your issue.

We also use the data we collect to send you communications about the services, such as news about events, information about products and services we and third parties offer, to request your feedback on our services, and to send you communications about services we believe may interest you. For example, we may regularly send emails to registered users of the services about their recent interactions with the services, such as donations or adoptions.

B. Text Messages:
You may agree that we can communicate with you about your Balu account via SMS, MMS, or text message. If you click "Send code" next to "Text message" when setting up your Balu account, you agree to receive automated and non-automated text messages about your account from or on behalf of Balu at the phone number you provided. You can opt-out of such text messages by replying STOP, except for automated text messages related to the security of your account. Message frequency may vary. Message and data rates may apply. If you change or deactivate your mobile phone number, you agree to update your Balu account information promptly to ensure your messages are not misdirected. Please note that standard fees, data rates, and carrier charges may apply if you access the services via a mobile device. Additionally, downloading, installing, or using certain services on a mobile device may be prohibited or restricted by your carrier, and not all services may work with all carriers or devices.

C. Providing and Improving the Services:
We use the data we collect to operate, maintain, provide, and improve our services, such as enabling access to the platform, providing customer support, or processing transactions.

D. Security and Fraud Prevention:
We use the data we collect to protect our services and to verify identities, prevent fraud, and continuously improve these aspects of our services. This includes requesting your (mobile) phone number to perform multi-factor authentication when setting up an account and/or when making payouts as a beneficiary.

E. Legal:
We use the information we collect to defend our legal rights, comply with federal, local, national, or international law, and enforce our terms of service and this notice.

OUR DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION COLLECTED THROUGH THE SERVICES

Under certain circumstances, we share information collected through the services without further notice to you, as detailed below.

A. Business Transfers:
As our business evolves, we may sell or buy business assets. In the event of a business sale, merger, restructuring, dissolution, or similar event, or steps taken in anticipation of such events (e.g., due diligence in a transaction), user data may be part of the transferred assets.

B. Agents, Consultants, Vendors, and Affiliated Third Parties:
Balu contracts with other companies to perform certain business-related functions on behalf of Balu, and we grant these companies access to your data or share it with them so they can perform services for us. Examples of such functions include marketing, sending information, data storage, security, identity verification, fraud prevention, payment processing, legal services, and database maintenance.

C. Legal Requirements:
We may transfer, share, and store your data with courts, law enforcement, government or public authorities, tax authorities, or authorized third parties when and to the extent we are legally required or permitted to do so or when disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (i) comply with our legal obligations, (ii) comply with a valid legal request (e.g., a subpoena or court order) or respond to claims against us, (iii) respond to a valid legal request related to a criminal investigation, address suspected or alleged illegal activities, or respond to other activities that expose us, you, other users, or the public to harm, legal, or regulatory liability, (iv) enforce our terms of service or other policies, or (v) protect the rights, property, or personal safety of Balu, its employees, its users, or the public.

D. Organizers and Beneficiaries:
We may share your data with the organizers and, if not identical, the beneficiaries of a fundraising campaign. For example, if you donate to a fundraising campaign for an animal welfare organization, we share your name and donation information you provided with the organizer, who may contact you. If you chose the "anonymous" option on the public campaign pages and in the services, your name is still visible to the organizer and their team members and is otherwise processed in accordance with this privacy notice.

E. Your Consent:
We may share your data in certain situations if you give your consent to share your data.

F. Aggregated Data:
We aggregate, anonymize, and/or de-identify data collected about you actively or passively, so the data no longer relates to you. We then use this data for various lawful purposes, including but not limited to our research on demographics, interests, and behavior of our customers.

G. Cookies and Other Electronic Technologies:
The information is shared as indicated in the section "Cookies and Other Electronic Technologies."

H. Other Users of Our Services:
We make your data available to other users of our services if you choose to make your data publicly available in a publicly accessible area of the services, such as in your fundraising campaign or in comments.

VOLUNTARY INFORMATION:
Please note that some of the information you provide may be publicly accessible, such as information posted in forums or comment areas. We also collect information about forums and communities, surveys and customer support communications, your communication to us about ideas for new products or changes to existing products, feedback, and other requested or unsolicited input (along with publicly available information "Voluntary Information"). By sending us Voluntary Information, you also agree that we are under no obligation of confidentiality regarding the Voluntary Information, whether express or implied. This section "Voluntary Information" also survives the termination of your account or the services.

CHILDREN:
Our services are not intended for use by persons under the age of 13 (or 16 years for children in Europe). If you are under 13 years old (or 16 years old for children in Europe), please do not use the services and/or transmit any information through the services. If you have reason to believe that a child under the age of 13 (or under 16 years old for children in Europe) has provided Balu with personal data through the services, please contact us at privacy@balu.team, and we will delete this data from our databases as required by law.

LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES:
The services may contain links to other websites that are not operated or controlled by Balu (the "Third Party Websites"). The policies and procedures described here do not apply to the Third Party Websites. The link to the services does not imply that Balu endorses or has reviewed the Third Party Websites. We encourage you to contact those websites directly for information about their respective privacy policies.

SECURITY:
While no organization can guarantee perfect security, Balu has implemented and continuously strives to improve technical and organizational security measures to protect the information provided through the services from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction.

RETENTION OF YOUR DATA:
We retain your data as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and for our legitimate business purposes; however, your data will only be retained as long as applicable laws permit or require. If we no longer need to retain your data, we will take reasonable steps to remove it from our systems and records and/or anonymize it in accordance with our internal document retention policies so that you can no longer be identified by the data. When determining the retention period, we consider various criteria, such as the type of products and services you requested or were provided, the nature and duration of our relationship with you, possible re-enrollments for our products or services, the impact of deleting some information about you on the services we provide to you, legally required retention periods, and statutes of limitations.

USERS IN EUROPE:

If you are located in Europe, you have the right to request an overview of the information we process about you and to receive a copy for your own informational purposes. You can also request that we update and correct inaccuracies, delete your information, restrict the processing of your information, or exercise your right to data portability to easily transfer your information to another company. In some cases, you can object to the processing of your information, and if we asked for your consent to process your information, you can withdraw that consent at any time. You can also withdraw previously given consent to the processing of your personal data; withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of data processing based on consent before its withdrawal. The above rights may be limited under applicable law.

You can exercise your rights in relation to your data by sending your request to the email or postal addresses provided. For your own safety and privacy protection, we may require you to verify your identity before providing the requested data at our discretion. Please note that Balu may take up to 30 days to process such requests after identity verification.

The above rights may be limited under applicable law. You also have the right to file a complaint with your local data protection authority if you believe we have not complied with the applicable data protection law. You also have the right to file a complaint with the supervisory authority of your place of residence, workplace, or the location where the incident occurred.

Opting Out of Marketing Communications:
Each email marketing communication we send you contains instructions that allow you to opt out of receiving future marketing communications. If you no longer wish to receive marketing communications or want your name removed from our mailing lists at any time, you can also contact us at contact@balu.team or our postal address. If you opt out of receiving marketing communications or other information we believe may interest you, we may still send you emails regarding your account or services you have requested or received from us.

OTHER TERMS:
Your access to and use of the services are subject to the Balu Terms of Service and any other terms that may be provided to you in connection with your use of the services.

CHANGES TO BALU'S PRIVACY NOTICE:

Balu reserves the right to update or change this notice at any time and from time to time. We will inform you of any significant updates or changes to this notice. If you do not agree with our revised notice, you may deactivate your account or discontinue using our services. Please check this notice regularly for updates or changes.

By using our platform and services after such an update or change, you acknowledge that you have read and understood the terms of the updated or changed notice.

CONTACT BALU:

You can contact our data protection officer via email at dpo@balu.team.

To make a request to exercise your privacy rights, please send an email to the above email address.

You can also contact us by mail at the following address:

Balu GmbH

Lottumstrasse 13a
10119 Berlin
Germany