Privacy Policy

OVERVIEW

This Privacy Policy is applicable for the website www.startingbusiness.com which is operated by Starting Business Pte Ltd (hereinafter ‘Starting Business’). We appreciate your interest in our website, products, and services and we value the importance of protecting your privacy and personal data. To ensure transparency and security, our Privacy Policy as set forth below will inform you about the nature, scope and purpose of the personal data collected and processed by us.

WHAT IS PERSONAL DATA

Personal data means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. We collect, process, or use personal data, if you provide it to us and give us your consent. Personal data may include your name, age, email, phone, address, job title, profession and other data that you have provided while contacting us, or applying to receive our services using the contact forms, or other service related forms on our website.

WHY WE NEED YOUR PERSONAL DATA

For the best user experience and to improve our website and services, we collect data sent by your web browser, e.g., information about your browser, your IP address, and your operating system. You may be asked to provide your personal information anytime you are in contact with Starting Business. Sometimes collection of personal information may be required due to the statutory or contractual obligations Starting Business has under applicable regulations. We may share and use this information in any manner that is consistent with this Privacy Policy. We may also combine it with other information to provide and improve our services, content, and promotion. You are not required to provide the personal information that we have requested, but if you chose not to do so, in many cases we will not be able to provide you with our products or services or respond to any queries you may have.

You have the following rights regarding the information you provide to us:

  • To access any information you have provided;
  • To correct any information you have provided;
  • To delete any information you have provided;
  • To object to the use of information you have provided; and
  • To have information you have provided to us transferred to another company or entity.

Please note that if your information is required by Starting Business to provide a service and you wish to restrict or delete that data, it may impact our ability to provide such service(s). You will be advised of this outcome in the event that it arises.

PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

When you apply for any service, we may collect a variety of information including, but not limited to: name, nationality, residential and mailing address, phone number, email address, contact preferences, and other. In most of cases, in order to process your request, we may have to collect government-issued identification documents to prove your identity and residence. We may also have to collect certain information pertaining to your date of birth, marital status, education, or disciplinary history.

Some examples of the services we provide, where the collection of personal information occurs include:

  • Legal and consultancy services;
  • Trademarks and patents-related services;
  • Company formation and administration services;
  • Assistance with opening of bank accounts;
  • Corporate, secretarial and accounting services;
  • Other activities in furtherance of or related to the above.

When you make online payments on our website, then the following types of information may also be collected by us or by a contracted third party, who handles payment processing for Starting Business:

  • Login information which includes user name and password, address, phone, email, and/or other similar information;
  • Credit card and other payment information that the user has to provide in order to make an online payment.

When you are purchasing goods and services at Starting Business and making an online payment on our website, we will require information such as contact details, card details and transaction details ("Transactional Data") to process the order. The Transactional Data may be processed for the purpose of supplying the purchased goods and services and keeping proper records of those transactions. Payment processing on Starting Business is handled by our payment services provider, LPB Bank. We will share transaction data with our payment services providers only to the extent necessary for the purposes of processing your payments, refunding such payments and dealing with complaints and queries relating to such payments and refunds. You can find information about the payment services providers' privacy policies and practices here.

HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We may use your personal information:

  • to provide the services requested by you and additional customer support.
  • to assist with identification and to prevent prohibited or illegal activities, comply with local and international laws, KYC regulations, and other similar obligations.
  • to help create, develop, operate, deliver, and improve services and advertising, and for loss-prevention and anti-fraud purposes.
  • for internal and administrative purposes such as auditing, data analysis, and research to improve our services and customer communications.
  • to send important notices, such as communications about current services and changes to our terms, conditions, and policies.
  • to process information relating to transactions, including purchases of goods and services, that you enter into with us and/or through our website.

COLLECTION AND USE OF NON-PERSONAL INFORMATION

We also collect data in a form that does not, on its own, permit direct association with any specific individual. We may collect, use, transfer, and disclose non-personal information for any purpose. The following are some examples of non-personal information that we collect and how we may use it:

  • Information such as occupation, language, zip code, and area code so that we can better understand customer behavior and improve their products, services, and advertising.
  • Information regarding customer activities on our website. This information is aggregated and used to help us provide more useful information to customers and to understand which parts of the website and services are of most interest. Aggregated data is considered non-personal information for the purpose of this Privacy Policy.
  • Details of how you use our services, including search queries. This information may be used to improve the relevancy of results provided by our services.

If we combine non-personal information with personal information, the combined information will be treated as personal information for as long as it remains combined.

COOKIES

When you visit Starting Business, our system automatically collects information about your visit, such as your browser type, your IP address, and the referring website. This collection may be done in conjunction with our vendors and partners (see data processors list below). We may receive from them general demographic or usage data of our site visitors. We do not use automatically collected information to identify you personally without collecting additional consent.

Such information is typically collected using web cookies, web or email pixels (also known as beacons), embedded hyperlinks, and similar tools. All commonly used browsers can generally be set to disable or delete individual cookies. See below for the types of cookies we use and their respective purposes.

Required Cookies: enable the navigation and basic functionality of the websites, e.g., access to protected areas of our websites.

Functional Cookies: allow us to analyze your website usage and your selections on the website (e.g. your login name, language, or region), so we can save these settings and offer you a more personalized experience.

Advertising Cookies: allow us to better assess the effectiveness of our content marketing and advertising efforts. These cookies are provided by our third-party partners to analyze and track site visit and signups stemming from advertising. We do not share your personal information (such as name or email) to third-party providers outside of site visit data collected directly by such Advertising Cookies, though your site visit data may be linked with other personal information collected elsewhere by such third-party providers. Such external data processing is governed by the privacy policies of these third-party providers.

Our website uses Google Analytics, a web analysis service of Google, Inc. (“Google”). Learn more from their Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Opt-out: Download the browser plugin “Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on” here.

Our website uses Google AdWords Conversion Tracking cookie to measure and optimize the performance and user experience related to our ads in Google Search or selected Google Display Network sites. Learn more about Google’s privacy policy here. Opt-out: Visiting Google’s Ads Settings.

ADVERTISING

This Site is affiliated with CMI Marketing, Inc., d/b/a CafeMedia (“CafeMedia”) for the purposes of placing advertising on the Site, and CafeMedia will collect and use certain data for advertising purposes. To learn more about CafeMedia’s data usage, click here www.cafemedia.com/publisher-advertising-privacy-policy

DISCLOSURE TO THIRD PARTIES

At times we may make certain personal information available to strategic partners or concerned parties that work with Starting Business to provide products and services, or that help us market to customers. Personal information will only be shared by us to provide or improve products, services, and/or advertising; it will not be sold to or shared with third parties for their marketing purposes.

DISCLOSURE TO SERVICE PROVIDERS

We may share personal information with third parties who provide services such as information processing, extending credit, fulfilling customer orders, delivering products, managing and enhancing customer data, providing customer service, assessing interest in products and services, and conducting customer research or satisfaction surveys. These third parties are obligated to protect your information in the same way as Starting Business and may be located wherever Starting Business conducts its operations.

DISCLOSURE TO OTHERS

It may be necessary by law, legal process, litigation, and/or requests from public and governmental authorities within or outside your country of residence for Starting Business to disclose your personal information. We may also disclose information about you if we determine that for purposes of national security, law enforcement, or other issues of public importance, disclosure is necessary or appropriate. We may also disclose information about you if we determine that disclosure is reasonably necessary to enforce our terms of business or protect our operations or our client's. Additionally, in the event of a reorganisation, merger, or sale of business, Starting Business may transfer any and all personal information we collect to the relevant third party.

DISCLOSURE TO THIRD PARTIES IF YOU MAKE PAYMENTS ON OUR WEBSITE

Personal information may be shared with:

  • Service providers who support our services, such as fraud prevention, bill collection, marketing, and technology services. These service providers may only use user information in connection with the services we perform and not for their own benefit;
  • Credit bureaus to report account information, as permitted by law;
  • Payment service providers and banking partners as required by credit card association rules;
  • Law enforcement, government officials, or other third parties when Starting Business is compelled to do so by a subpoena, court order or similar legal procedure; and/or when it is necessary to comply with the law or credit card rules; and/or disclosure is necessary to prevent physical harm or financial loss or to report illegal activity; and/or the user consents or directs Starting Business to do so.

Starting Business will not sell or rent any personal information to third parties for marketing purposes and only shares personal information with third parties as described in this Policy.

PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

When users visit the payment page of our website or send an email to Starting Business, technology is used to prevent unauthorised third parties from viewing and downloading user information. We process personal information on servers located in the Netherlands and protect it by maintaining physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards such as: firewalls, secure sockets layer (SSL) encryption, URL data encryption, file access privileges, physical server access controls, and authorisation of access to personal information only for employees who require it to fulfill their job responsibilities. When your personal data is stored by us, we use computer systems with limited access housed in facilities using physical security measures.

No data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information transmitted over the Internet. Starting Business makes every attempt to ensure the security of all information collected.

INTEGRITY AND RETENTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We make it easy for you to keep your personal information accurate, complete, and up to date. Starting Business will retain your personal information for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

ACCESS TO PERSONAL INFORMATION

You can help ensure that your contact information and preferences are accurate, complete, and up to date by contacting us using the contact details on our website. For other personal information we hold, we will provide you with a copy of such information so that you can request that we correct the data if it is inaccurate, or delete the data if we are not required to retain it by law (or for legitimate business purposes). Starting Business may decline to process requests that are frivolous/vexatious, jeopardize the privacy of others, are extremely impractical, or for which access is not otherwise required by local law. Requests for information, correction, or deletion can be made by contacting us via the contact details provided on our website.

PROTECTION OF MINORS

We understand the importance of taking extra precautions to protect the privacy and safety of minors. Minors are not permitted to use Starting Business's services. If we learn that we have collected the personal information of a minor, we will take steps to delete the information as soon as possible.

THIRD PARTY SITES AND SERVICES

Starting Business's website, products and services may contain links to third party websites, products, and services. We may also use or offer products or services from third parties. The inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement of any other company, its products, services, or privacy practices. Furthermore, we are not responsible for personal information voluntarily disclosed by users to third parties that are contacted through links to any website. Information collected by third parties, which may include personal data or contact details, is governed by their privacy practices. We encourage you to learn about the privacy practices of those third parties.

INTERNATIONAL USERS

Starting Business, as a global services provider, has a number of affiliated legal entities in different jurisdictions which are responsible for the personal information which we collect and which is processed on our behalf. We employ appropriate technological and physical safeguards to keep information secure. However, please be aware that these safeguards may not meet the same standards as are required by the country in which you reside.

COMMITMENT TO YOUR PRIVACY

To make sure your personal information is secure, we communicate our privacy and security guidelines to our employees and strictly enforce privacy safeguards.

QUESTIONS & COMPLAINTS

When a privacy question or access/deletion request is received, we have a dedicated team which seeks to address the specific concern or query which you are seeking to raise. If you are unsatisfied with the reply received, you may refer your complaint to the relevant regulator in your jurisdiction. Upon request, we will endeavour to provide you with information about relevant complaint avenues which may be applicable to your circumstances.

This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time. When the policy changes in a material way, a notice will be posted on the Starting Business website along with the updated Privacy Policy.

If you have any questions or if at any time you wish to lodge a complaint in respect of the handling, use or disclosure of your personal information by us, you may do so by contacting our Customer Support Centre by using our Contact Page.

Last updated: 22nd July 2020