Privacy Policy
Update Effective as of: March 10, 2024
Poinz has issued this Privacy Statement to notify you on our practices of collecting, using, disclosing, and storing your personal information. We hold transparency in high regard, though achieving it necessitates an extensive notice. For your convenience, we've summarized the main points at the beginning. Our aim is to make the entire notice as accessible as possible, and we encourage any inquiries or feedback you might have (refer to Contact Us).
Highlights of this Notice
Customers of Our Merchants - We may obtain your personal information when we provide services to merchants, including merchants that use our services to operate loyalty programs. We process this personal information on behalf of our merchants, and we recommend reviewing your merchant's privacy policy and contacting them with any complaints, questions, or requests. We also obtain and control personal information about customers when they use our services directly, such as when they create or use the Poinz wallet.
Merchants and Their Users - Most information we collect about merchants is business information, not personal information. We use any personal information collected to support and better understand our merchants and provide and improve our services.
Website / Support Service Users - We collect personal information you provide directly, such as your contact information, and information collected through cookies and similar tools. We use this to provide the website, support, and better understand our users and provide and improve our services.
Employees / Contractors / Applicants - If you apply for a job with Poinz, we use your personal information to consider hiring you. If we hire you, we will use your personal information in connection with your employment. A separate privacy notice may apply to employees.
Application of This Notice
This notice applies to all personal information that we collect, use, share, and store when you apply for a job with Poinz or access our services. Our services include the Poinz wallet, which allows you to view your reward points across multiple merchants. When you create a Poinz wallet, the information you provide to Poinz will be subject to this notice, including any reward points information that Poinz obtains from merchants in connection with your wallet. "Poinz" includes Poinz Inc. and any related companies anywhere in the world.
Merchants: As noted above, we handle personal data on behalf of others, including merchants. We recommend directing any complaints, inquiries, or requests concerning your personal information directly to those merchants. If you are dissatisfied with their response, you may contact us, but we cannot guarantee that we can address your concern. If you do not create a Poinz wallet, Poinz does not control your reward point information. However, if you create a Poinz wallet, both Poinz and the applicable merchant will have a copy of your reward points, and each will be aware if your reward point totals change, such as when you earn or redeem points.
Non-Personal Information: Data about your business, including your business contact details, is typically not considered personal information. Anonymized data is also not regarded as personal information for the purposes of this notice. We may anonymize any personal information in our possession, in which case it will cease to be personal information.
In certain situations, we may rely on exemptions or other permissible conduct under applicable laws, including collecting, using, disclosing, or storing personal information for purposes not described in this notice. We provide services to merchants across various jurisdictions, and privacy practices may be adopted to address the specific privacy requirements of particular regions. If you are unsure whether or how this notice applies to you, please contact us.
Changes to this Notice
Please note that we may update this notice from time to time to reflect changes in our privacy practices by notifying you of the changes. This notification may include, but is not limited to, posting a link to the new notice, publishing a new notice at poinz.com/privacy-policy, or sending you a link to the new notice via the contact information you have provided to us. Such changes will be effective concerning your use of Poinz's services after we have provided notice of the changes. We recommend reviewing this notice periodically to check if it has been updated. Any use of Poinz's services by you after we provide notice constitutes your acceptance of those changes.
Processing of Personal Information
Much of the personal information we process is necessary to provide our services and meet our contractual obligations. In most other situations, we rely on our legitimate interests (which, in some countries, would be "implied consent" or a legal exception to the consent requirement, such as where processing is to prevent fraud). The specific purposes for which we process personal information include:
While not stated as a purpose below, we may also use any personal information:
We may also request express consent to process your personal information in some circumstances, such as when you sign up as a merchant or a user for a merchant, when you visit our website and we use cookies, or when you create a Poinz wallet. We may also de-identify information, such as through anonymization or aggregation. We may use and disclose such information for any purpose, as it will no longer identify you or any other individual.
Sharing Your Personal Information
We do not sell your personal information to third parties (as "sell" is defined in California law). A "sale" would not include a situation where someone is acquiring all or part of our business (as further explained below).
We share your personal information with our employees, contractors, consultants, and other parties such as affiliates and third-party companies that assist us in providing our services, including marketers, customer support, and hosting services. Below is a non-exhaustive list of the third parties that may have access to personal information under our control.
Will My Personal Information Leave the Country?
We may disclose personal information to third parties both within and outside of your country, and as a result, your personal information may be collected, used, disclosed, or stored in another country, including Canada and the United States of America. Privacy laws vary between countries, and your personal information may be processed in a country with less stringent laws than those in your country. Personal information may be accessible to governments, courts, law enforcement, national security authorities, or regulatory agencies of these countries in accordance with applicable laws.
Tracking Tools (Cookies, Web Beacons, etc.)
Cookies - Our website utilizes session cookies, which are automatically removed when you close your browser, for the proper functioning of our website. We also employ persistent cookies, which remain on your computer, to analyze your website usage and remember your preferences. You can learn more about cookies at allaboutcookies.org.
Web Beacons - We incorporate web beacons in our emails to track when you open the email and click on any links within it.
"Do Not Track (DNT) Signals" - While we would like to honor browsers set with DNT signals, our website currently does not respond to DNT signals or other mechanisms that might allow users to opt out of IP address tracking. For more information about DNT signals, please visit allaboutdnt.com.
Exercising Your Rights to Your Information
Depending on your location and subject to applicable laws, you may have the right to request access to, correction of, or erasure of your personal information, object to our processing of your personal information, request restriction of your personal information under our control, or withdraw or change your consent to how we process your personal information by contacting our Privacy Officer (Contact Us). Keep in mind that merchants control a significant portion of the personal information processed by Poinz, so you may need to direct your request to the merchant with whom you have a relationship.
As a security measure, our Privacy Officer may request specific information from you to verify your identity before granting any requests. If we cannot respond to your request promptly or have to deny the request, we will inform you of the reasons, subject to any legal restrictions. If you disagree with our determination, you may lodge a complaint with us, and we will reconsider. If you are not satisfied with our final determination, you may contact your local data protection authority or privacy commissioner. Additionally, your personal information may have been destroyed, erased, or anonymized in accordance with our record retention obligations and practices.
If you wish to designate someone to exercise your rights on your behalf, please send your designation request using the email associated with your account, if you have one, or that you have otherwise provided to Poinz. We are unable to verify your identity otherwise.
Where permitted by law, we may refuse or charge a fee for repeated, abusive, or inappropriate requests.
Retaining Your Personal Information
We only store personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which the personal information was collected, to conduct our business operations and maintain an appropriate historical record of our relationship with you, or to comply with applicable laws, whichever is longer, after which time the personal information is destroyed or erased. Instead of destroying or erasing your personal information, we may anonymize it such that it cannot be associated with or traced back to you.
How long do you retain customer records in your system?
We retain customer records in our system indefinitely, unless one of the following conditions is met: 1) We receive a request from the customer to delete their data, 2) The customer's account is deactivated from your eCommerce platform, or 3) There has been no activity associated with your website for the past 24 months.
Securing Your Personal Information
We take steps to implement physical, technical, and procedural safeguards that are appropriate to the sensitivity of your personal information. These safeguards are designed to prevent your personal information from loss and unauthorized access, copying, use, modification, or disclosure. However, the internet is not a secure environment, and no computer system is perfectly secure. As such, we cannot guarantee the security of personal information provided to us through electronic means, as there is always a risk that your personal information may be accessed or used without authorization.
Other Questions
Will We Use Your Personal Information to Contact You?
Poinz and its marketing partners and sponsors may use your personal information to send you periodic emails listing promotions or events related to Poinz's services. You may opt-out of receiving such promotional emails by sending an email to oliver@poinz.xyz or following the instructions in such correspondence. Once Poinz has processed your opt-out request, we will no longer send you promotional emails unless you opt back in to receive such communications. Poinz does not control mailing lists maintained by merchants.
What Personal Information Do We Collect from Children?
We only collect, use, disclose, and store personal information of children under the age of 13 with the consent of a parent or guardian. If you believe that a child under 13 may have provided us with personal information without the consent of a parent or guardian, we request that you Contact Us immediately.
What Personal Information Do We Collect from Third Parties?
We may collect personal information about you from a third party. In such cases, the third party providing that personal information to us is responsible for obtaining your consent or another lawful basis for such disclosure.
For example, if you provide your personal information to another Poinz user, such as a merchant, as part of accessing and using Poinz's services, that personal information may be collected by us or other third parties, as we and others are the service providers of such users. The collection, use, disclosure, and storage of such information will be subject to the privacy policies of those other Poinz users. We recommend that you review the privacy policies of those Poinz users before providing any personal information.
Do We Collect Personal Information About Third Parties from You?
You may have the opportunity to communicate with others that use Poinz's services, such as by sending an invitation to a third party. If you choose to take advantage of this functionality, we may ask you to provide us with certain information about the person with whom you wish to communicate, such as their name and email address. By providing us with this information, you confirm that you have obtained their consent to collect, use, and disclose their personal information in this manner.
We collect such information for facilitating the requested communication, which may contain a specific promotional message from you. Unless we explicitly state otherwise, we will not use this personal information for other marketing purposes without first obtaining consent from the subject of the personal information. Please be aware that when you use any invitation functionality on the services, your email address, name or username, and message may be included in the communication sent to you.
What Personal Information Do Third Parties Collect from Us?
For your convenience, Poinz's services may contain links to third-party websites, applications, or services or integrate with other third-party platforms that collect personal information from you. Such third-party services may include payment processors that collect personal information to facilitate your purchase of certain services. While we try to link only to third-party services that share our commitment to protecting your privacy, we are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of third-party services. We recommend that you review the privacy policies of those third-party services before using them.
What is Required of Merchants?
Our Terms of Use require that merchants comply with all applicable laws, including privacy laws, including obtaining consent to process your personal information where required by applicable laws. If you believe a merchant is violating applicable laws or regulations, we invite you to please Contact Us.
Contact Us
If you wish to make a complaint about how we have handled your personal information or you believe that we have breached this notice or applicable laws, you may file a complaint with our Privacy Officer using the following email: oliver@poinz.xyz.
Any other questions regarding this notice or any other privacy-related concerns, such as requests to withdraw consent, access our records of personal information, or change or erase personal information, can also be addressed to our Privacy Officer.
What if I have a Complaint about a Merchant?
If you have a question, comment, or complaint about a merchant, please contact the merchant directly. If the merchant is unresponsive, you may direct your question, comment, or complaint to us, but we cannot guarantee we will be able to address it.