About this privacy policy
This privacy policy explains how DohaUpdates.com.com (the “website”) collects, uses, shares and transfers your personal data on the DohaUpdates.com website and its associated apps (“DohaUpdates”).
Personal data is any information about you by which you are identified or could be identified. This can include information such as:
- your name, date of birth, email address, postal address, phone number, mobile number;
- information about your device (such as the IP address, which is a numerical code to identify your device that can provide information about the country, region or city where you are based); and
- information relating to your personal circumstances and how you use the DohaUpdates.com.com website and the associated apps.
We use your personal data for a variety of reasons, to ultimately be able to offer you the services we are providing and to publish the content that you read on our site and apps.
These are the main reasons why we collect and use data about our users:
- To show you content that is relevant to you and to improve your experience on our website
- To provide the services you sign up for, such as classifieds, forums, job applications, newsletter subscription, and any other services.
- To carry out marketing analyses and send you communications when we have your permission, or when permitted by law
- To enable us to show advertising on our sites.
- Sometimes our site and apps may contain links to third party sites and services. These sites and services have their own privacy policies. If you follow a link to a third party, you should read the privacy policy shown on their site.
Who we are and how to contact us
The data controller for our sites and apps is Qatar Living for Trade and IT Investment, Villa 333, Street 250, Zone 43, D-Ring Road, PO Box 11937, Doha, Qatar. This means that we are responsible for deciding how and why we hold and use your personal data. If you want to contact us, you can find our contact details in the “How to contact us” section below.
What personal data we collect and how we use it
We collect personal data when you sign up for our services and when you browse our site or use our apps. This information is used to provide our content and other services, display advertising and analyze how visitors use our site or apps.
To register for a Qatar Living account on DohaUpdates.com.com we collect:
- Username;
- Your name;
- Your email address;
- Some limited data from your social media profile (further information on this is below) if you have signed in to DohaUpdates.com.com using your social media details;
- Mobile operator;
- Mobile phone number;
- Nationality;
- Gender;
- Date of birth.
- Information such as the Mobile Operator and the Mobile phone number is mandatory for the account verification, in case you want to use the Classifieds service.
Your username will be used when you choose to post content or comments on our site.
Additional information you can add to your profile after having registered include:
- Biography
- Your photograph
- Cover photo
- We will not collect special categories of data – such as information about your race, political opinions, religion, health or sexual orientation – unless you have chosen to provide that information to us.
When you register for a Qatar Living account, we assign you a unique ID that we use to recognize you when you are signed in to our services. This will recognize you if you sign in using the same account on a new device or through a different application such as the Qatar Living apps on mobile devices.
When you use our sites or apps we may also use cookies or similar technology to collect extra data, including:
your IP address – a numerical code to identify your device and which can provide information about the country, region or city where you are based;
your browsing history of the content you have visited on our sites, including information on how you were referred to our sites via another website; and
details of your devices, for example, the unique device ID, unique advertising ID, and browsers used to access our content.
Using your social media details to sign into your Qatar Living account
When you sign in to our sites or apps using your Facebook login details, you give permission to Facebook to share with us your email address and certain aspects of your Facebook profile if you have made this public on your Facebook profile. This only includes your first and last name, age range, link to your Facebook profile and profile picture. We do not have access to updates on your Facebook profile.
We may then use this information to form a profile for your Qatar Living account. If you remove the Qatar Living app from your Facebook settings, we will no longer have access to this data. However, we will still have the information that we received when you first set up your Qatar Living account using your Facebook login.
Posting content on our site and apps
When you post information in the Classifieds section of our site or in the apps, and comment or post publicly on an article or forum, the information you post and your username are publicly accessible. This information can be viewed online and collected by other people. We are not responsible for the way these other people use this information. When contributing to a discussion, we strongly recommend you avoid sharing any personal details, and especially information that can be used to identify you directly such as your name, age, address and name of employer. We are not responsible for the privacy of any identifiable information that you post in our online community or other public pages of the site.
Additionally, the apps use information on the content you have viewed. A list of the information that you have recently viewed is cached in the local storage on your mobile device. You can delete this reading history in the settings of the app. Information on what you have viewed in the app and information on bugs and crashes is also sent to us. You can choose to receive notifications on your mobile device via the app. You can manage these notifications in the settings of the app.
How we collect personal data
We collect personal data when you:
- register for an account on DohaUpdates.com.com;
- pay for an ad, a subscription or purchase any other products/services;
- attend our events;
- enter our competitions and surveys;
- sign up to our newsletters;
- post in our online community;
- sign up for marketing communications;
- use mobile devices to access our content;
- access our sites, through cookies and other similar technology; and
- when you contact us via email, social media, our apps or similar technologies or when you mention us on social media.
- Why we use your personal data
We use personal data collected through our sites and apps for a number of purposes, including the following:
- To provide the services you sign up for, such as posting ads in the classifieds section or jobs in the jobs section, jobseeker ads or signing up for a Premium account. We also use the personal data for related internal administrative purposes – such as our accounting and records – and to make you aware of any changes to our services.
- To send marketing communications when we have your permission, or when permitted by law.
- To personalize our services (for example, so you can sign in), remembering your settings, displaying personalized advertising as well as measuring how effective our online adverts are, recognizing you when you sign in on different devices and tailoring our marketing communications based on what you read on our site or in the apps.
- To carry out marketing analysis, for example, we look at what you have viewed on our site and apps and what products and services you have bought to better understand what your interests and preferences are, and to improve our marketing by making it more relevant to your interests and preferences. You can opt out from having your personal data used for marketing analysis by contacting our Support Helpdesk at support@DohaUpdates.com
- To improve our marketing communications, we use similar technology to cookies to confirm whether you have opened a marketing email or clicked on a link in the email.
- To sell advertising space on our sites. Since its launch in 2005, our site has been funded in part by advertising.
- For statistical purposes such as analyzing the performance of our sites and apps and to understand how visitors use them.
- To respond to your queries and to resolve complaints.
For security and fraud prevention, and to ensure that our sites and apps are safe and secure and used in line with our terms of use.
To comply with applicable laws and regulations.
Access permissions that we ask from users of the Qatar Living Classifieds apps
When you use the Qatar Living Classifieds app, we ask for the following permissions to access particular functions of your mobile device: External Storage permission (so that you can store content and read when offline), Camera permission and Location permission.
Legal grounds for using your personal data
We will only use your personal data where we have a legal ground to do so. We determine the legal grounds based on the purposes for which we have collected and used your personal data. In every case, the legal ground will be one of the following:
Consent: For example, where you have provided your consent to receive marketing emails from us. You can withdraw your consent at any time. In the case of marketing emails, you can withdraw your consent by clicking on the “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of the email or by contacting our Support Helpdesk at support@DohaUpdates.com
Our legitimate interests: Where it is necessary for us to understand our users, promote our services and operate our site and apps efficiently for the creation, publication and distribution of news, media, and related online content. For example, we will rely on our legitimate interest when we analyze what content has been viewed on our site and apps so that we can understand how they are used. It is also in our legitimate interest to carry out marketing analysis to determine what products and services may be relevant to the interests of our users. You can opt out from having your personal data used for marketing analysis by contacting our Support Helpdesk at support@DohaUpdates.com
Performance of a contract with you (or in order to take steps prior to entering into a contract with you): For example, when posting ads in the classifieds section or jobs in the jobs section, jobseeker ads or signing up for a Premium account, we need to use your contact details and payment information in order to process your order.
Compliance with law: In some cases, we may have a legal obligation to use or keep your personal data.
Updating your personal data and your profile page on our sites
When you register for an account with DohaUpdates.com.com, you have access to a profile page. Under “Profile & Settings” you can review what information is public when you comment on our posts or in the forums. You can also update your information or provide extra information if you want.
You may also update your marketing preferences by contacting our Support Helpdesk at support@DohaUpdates.com
Personal data that we receive about you from other organizations
Adding to or combining the personal data you provide to us
When you sign up to our services, we may add to the personal data you give us by combining it with information shared with us by other trusted organizations. We may also obtain information from partners whose offers we include in some of our marketing communications and we use this information to ensure that we do not send you irrelevant marketing.
We also use information on the content you have viewed on our sites and apps and your interaction with the content to add you to groups with similar interests and preferences so that we can make our online advertising more relevant. Sometimes we use data about your interests or demographics that third parties have collected from you online to add to these groups.
Information shared by event partners
When you register or book a ticket for a Qatar Living event organized by an event partner, your registration data may be shared with us by the event partner.
Using children’s personal data
We do not aim any of our products or services directed at children under the age of 13 and we do not knowingly collect personal data about children under 13. Some of our services may have a higher age restriction and this will be shown at the point of registration.
Security of your personal data
We have implemented appropriate technical and organizational controls to protect your personal data against unauthorized processing and against accidental loss, damage or destruction. You are responsible for choosing a secure password when we ask you to set up a password to access parts of our sites or apps. You should keep this password confidential and you should choose a password that you do not use on any other site. You should not share your password with anyone else, including anyone who works for us. Unfortunately, sending information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data once with us, we cannot guarantee the security of any personal data sent to our site while still in transit and so you provide it at your own risk.
Who we share your personal data with
We do not share your personal data with other people or organizations that are not directly linked to us except under the following circumstances:
We may share your data with other organizations that provide services on our behalf such as dealing with online payments and other forms of payment processing, i.e. credit card transactions and preventing fraud.
We may also share your data with our advertising partners, as set out in the section about Online Advertising below.
We may reveal your personal data to any law enforcement agency, court, regulator, government authority or other organization if we are required to do so to meet a legal or regulatory obligation, or otherwise to protect our rights or the rights of anyone else.
We may reveal your personal data to any other organization that buys, or to which we transfer all, or substantially all, of our assets and business. If this sale or transfer takes place, we will use reasonable efforts to try to make sure that the organization we transfer your personal data to uses it in line with our privacy policy.
Any organizations which access your data in the course of providing services on our behalf will be governed by strict contractual restrictions to make sure that they protect your data and keep to all data privacy laws that apply. We may also independently audit these service providers to make sure that they meet our standards.
We will not share your personal data with anyone else for their own marketing purposes unless we have your permission to do this.
Some of our web pages use social plug-ins from other organizations (such as the “Facebook Recommend” function, Twitter’s retweet function). These other organizations may receive and use personal data about your visit to our sites or apps. If you browse our site or view content on our apps, the information they collect may be connected to your account on their site. For more information on how these organizations use personal data, please read their privacy policies.
How long we keep your personal data
We keep your personal data for only as long as we need to. How long we need your personal data depends on what we are using it for, as set out in this privacy policy. For example, we may need to use it to answer your queries about a product or service and as a result, may keep personal data while you are still using our product or services. We may also need to keep your personal data for accounting purposes, for example, where you have bought a subscription. If we no longer need your data, we will delete it or make it anonymous by removing all details that identify you. If we have asked for your permission to process your personal data and we have no other lawful grounds to continue with that processing, and you withdraw your permission, we will delete your personal data. However, when you unsubscribe from marketing communications, we will keep your email address to ensure that we do not send you any marketing in the future.
How we may contact you
Service communications
From time to time we may send you service emails, for example, telling you your subscription is coming to an end or thanking you when you contribute or place an order with us.
Marketing communications and editorial newsletters
If we have your permission, we may send you materials we think may interest you, such as new Qatar Living offers and updates. Depending on your marketing preferences, this may be by email, phone, SMS or post.
You can decide not to receive these emails at any time and will be able to “unsubscribe” directly by clicking a link in the email.
Market research
Sometimes we may contact you for market research purposes, for example about a survey.
Responding to your queries or complaints
If you have raised a query or a complaint with us, we may contact you to answer your query or to resolve your complaint.
Cookies and similar technology
When you visit our sites or when you use our apps, we may collect personal data from you automatically using cookies or similar technology. A cookie is a small file that can be placed on your device that allows us to recognize and remember you.
Online advertising
Advertising on our sites that is based on cookies and similar technology
We use personalized online advertising on our sites. This allows us to deliver more relevant advertising to people who visit DohaUpdates.com It works by showing you adverts that are based on your browsing patterns and the way you have interacted with our sites and apps. It then shows you adverts which we believe may interest you.
When you browse our sites or use our apps, some of the cookies and similar technology we place on your device are advertising cookies, so we can understand what sort of pages you are interested in. We can then display advertising on your browser based on these interests. For instance, if you have been reading a lot of food and drink articles, we may show you more advertisements for food and drink.
We do not collect or use information such as your name, email address, postal address or phone number for personalized online advertising.
We may also share online data collected through cookies and similar technology with our advertising partners. This means that when you are on another website, you may be shown advertising based on your browsing patterns on DohaUpdates.com We may also show you advertising on DohaUpdates.com.com website based on your browsing patterns on other sites that we have obtained from our advertising partners.
Online retargeting is another form of online advertising that allows us and some of our advertising partners to show you advertising based on your browsing patterns and interactions with a site away from our sites.
For example, if you have visited the website of an online clothes shop, you may start seeing adverts from that same shopping site displaying special offers or showing you the products you were browsing. This allows companies to advertise to you if you leave their website without making a purchase.
Advertising that we place on our site or on other sites
We also use personalized online advertising to promote our own products and services. This means that you may see advertising for our products and services on our sites and when you are on other, third-party websites, including social media platforms.
Your rights with regard to the personal data that we hold about you
You can contact us with regard to the following rights in relation to your personal data:
Where you have provided us with consent to use your personal data, you can withdraw this at any time.
You also have the right to ask us to delete your personal data or restrict how it is used. There may be exceptions to the right to erasure for specific legal reasons which, if applicable, we will set out for you in response to your request. Where applicable, you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data for certain purposes.
If you do not want us to use your personal data for marketing analysis.
If you want to make any of these requests, please contact our Support Helpdesk at support@DohaUpdates.com
We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity.
Please note that we fully cooperate with the proper authorities to carry forward any formal inquiries issued by our users.
Contact us for information about how we use your personal data
If you have any questions about how we use your personal data or if you have a concern about how your personal data is used, please contact our Support Helpdesk at support@DohaUpdates.com
If you have a question about anything else, please see our Contact us