Privacy Policy

Become respects your rights to privacy. Your ability to make informed choices about the use of your information is important to us. This Privacy Policy explains our policy regarding the collection, use, disclosure and protection of personal information we receive through your use of the Become application (“the App“). It also sets out how you can contact us if you have any queries or concerns about this information. If not otherwise defined in this Privacy Policy, capitalized terms have the meaning given to them in our Terms and Conditions, which you may read here (the “Terms”). 

Consent

By communicating or dealing with Become, including by completing and submitting the Application Information through the App, you consent to the information you provide being collected, stored, used and disclosed by us in accordance with our Privacy Policy. 

Types of Information We Collect

Personal Information” means information that can be directly associated with a specific person, such as gender, birth date, marital status, professional experience, education, or credit card information. 

We collect such Personal Information that you provide us in order for us to provide you with our Services. This Personal Information may include: your full name, gender, birth date, place of birth, place of residence, profession and professional experience, social security number, or the Application Information.

We also receive information from Funding Providers regarding your funding application or funding. Such information may include whether or not funding has been approved, the amount of the funding, the date in which the funding is granted and additional information regarding the funding.

We may offer the option to use a third party service in order to allow you to obtain Statements (“Third Party Service”). If you choose to use such a third party service, we may also retain the Statements.

The App enables you to aggregate and access information from third party websites and platforms, such as Facebook, Amazon and Google, which may contain information regarding the commercial operations of your business (such as inventory, sales, marketing budget and ROI). Access to such information is subject to your consent, which will be obtained through the websites or platforms’ interface (“Third party Data“). By agreeing to connect with us through such a platform you are authorizing us to collect, store, and use, in accordance with this Privacy Policy, any and all information that you agreed that the platform could provide to us, in connection with the Services, based on your platform settings.

We also collect Personal Information when you contact us for any reason. It is your voluntary decision whether to provide us with any such Personal Information, but if you refuse to provide such information we may not be able to register you to use the Services or your use of the Services may be limited. To the extent that you provide Personal Information about individuals other than yourself, you certify that you have obtained their consent to the collection and use (including transfer and disclosure) of that Personal Information consistent with this Privacy Policy and, for any individuals not legally competent to give consent, you consent on their behalf and confirm that you have the authority to do so.

In addition, when you use the App, certain information may be automatically gathered about your computer, browser, operating system, IP address or mobile device. 

How we Protect Information

We make efforts to follow generally accepted industry standards to protect Personal Information, both during transmission and once we receive it, including by keeping your Personal Information secure in a combination of secure computer storage, hard copy files and other records. However, you must realize that no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. 

We will delete any Personal Information provided to us by a user upon the receipt of a written request by such user. We cannot restore information that we have deleted. 

How we Use Information

Please note that we are not a government agency, government organization, financial institution, funding provider or other funding provider. We are a company providing value added services meant to connect small businesses with small business funding providers.

We will provide third party Funding Providers your Application Information on your behalf for the opportunity to receive small business funding conditional offer. If you have chosen to use the App to receive Third Party Data, we will also share this information with such Funding Providers. If you are found eligible for business funding by several Funding Providers, you may choose with which Funding Provider(s) you want to complete the process. If you direct us to do so, we may also share your Application Information with other third parties which offer similar services.

We are not responsible for any errors in the content you provide to us or Third Party Data. The Application Information may include your Statements, if you have used the Third Party Service on our website. 

Except as specifically set forth in these Terms, we will not share your Personal Information with third parties without your explicit permission.

We may use Personal Information internally – for example, to help diagnose problems with our servers, to make our App or Services more useful, or to customize our App or Services and personalize their content for you.

We may share your Personal Information with members of our corporate family, third party vendors, service providers and Funding Providers. We may also authorize third party Funding Providers, vendors or service providers to collect information on our behalf.

We may offer third party products or services on our App. You can tell when a third party is involved in a product or service because their name will appear, either alone or with ours. If you choose to use these products or services, we may share information about you, including your Personal Information, with those partners. Please note that we do not control the privacy practices of these third party business partners. If you wish to no longer allow that third party to use your information, please contact that third party directly.

If you were referred to our App from another application or website (for example, through a link), we may share some information about you with that referring entity. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any application or website that referred you here. Additionally, when you link to one of our partners from our App, we provide that partner with a unique identifier so they know that you were referred from our App. This unique identifier will not contain any of your Personal Information.

By analyzing all information we receive, including all information concerning users, we may compile statistical information across a variety of users (“Statistical Information”). Statistical Information helps understand trends and user needs so that new products and services can be considered and so existing products and services can be tailored to user desires. Statistical Information does not indicate individuals’ identities, and we will not link Statistical Information to any Personal Information. We may share Statistical Information with our partners, without restriction, on commercial terms that we can determine in our sole discretion. We also use a tool called “Google Analytics” to collect information about the use of the App or Services. Google Analytics collects information such as how often users visit this App, what pages they visit when they do so, and what other sites they used prior to coming to this App. Google Analytics collects only the IP address assigned to you on the date you visit this site, rather than your name or other identifying information. We do not combine the information collected through the use of Google Analytics with personally identifiable information. We use the information we get from Google Analytics only to improve our App and Services. Google’s ability to use and share information collected by Google Analytics about your visits to this App is restricted by the Google Analytics Terms of Use located at http://www.google.com/analytics/terms/us.html and the Google Privacy Policy located at http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/.

We may lawfully disclose your Personal Information for purposes other than those purposes for which it was collected and described herein (secondary purpose) in certain circumstances, including where you would reasonably expect us to disclose the information for that purpose. We can (and you authorize us to) disclose any information about you as we, in our sole discretion, reasonably believe necessary or as otherwise permitted by applicable laws, including: when disclosure is required or authorized by or under a competent court, tribunal or regulatory entity’s order; to lessen or prevent serious threat to your health and safety or to public health or safety; to take appropriate action where we have reason to suspect that unlawful activity, or misconduct of a series nature, that relates to our business functions or activities has been, is being, or may be engaged in; to assist another entity, body or person to locate a person who has been reported as missing; for the establishment, exercise or defense of a legal or equitable claim; for the purposes of a confidential alternative dispute resolution process or for one or more enforcement related activities conducted by, or on behalf of, an enforcement body.

 Cookies

A cookie is a small piece of text that is sent to a visitor’s browser. The browser provides this piece of text to the device of the originating visitor when this visitor returns. We use cookies to help personalize your experience. A “persistent” cookie may be used to help save your settings and customizations. Also, if you log in to an application that we may provide, such a cookie will be used to recognize you as a valid user so you will not need to log in each time you use the App. Most Web browsers are initially configured to accept cookies, but you can change this setting so your browser either refuses all cookies or informs you when a cookie is being sent. Also, you are free to delete any existing cookies at any time. Please note that some features of the Services may not function properly when cookies are disabled or removed. 

Online Links to Other Sites or Applications 

You can link to the websites of third parties that provide useful information/services. Any Personal Information you provide on the linked pages is provided directly to this third party and is subject to this third party’s provider’s privacy policy. We advise you check these privacy policies. We do not have access to the information collected by those third party websites or by our partners. Except as described in this Privacy Policy, we are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of third party websites to which we or our partners link. 

Use of the App/Services by Children

You must be at least 18 years of age in order to use the App and/or Services. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13. In the event you become aware that somebody under the age of 13 has enrolled without parental permission, please inform us immediately. 

Correcting or Updating your Information

We allow you to view the information you provided during registration and to alter any data, inaccuracies or errors. To request such access, or correct, update, or amend your personal information please contact us at the following email address, postal address or telephone number: 

Email address: support@become.co

Postal Address: 350 Fifth Avenue | 59th floor | New York City, NY 10118

 We will retain your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you Services. If you wish to request that we no longer use your information to provide you Services, please contact us at the email address, postal address, or telephone number listed above. We will retain and use your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. 

Communications

We may send you email, text and social media messages (including but not limited to Facebook or Twitter), or contact you via telephone calls or direct mail. By accepting the Terms and Conditions for the App or Services (including the terms of this Privacy Policy which are incorporated therein) or using the App or Services, you affirmatively consent to receive such commercial messages on an on-going basis throughout your use of the App or Services. As a registered member, you can remove your personal information from our mailing list and stop receiving future communication from us by following the unsubscribe link located at the bottom of each communication or by emailing us at support@become.co. You will also be given the opportunity to unsubscribe from commercial messages in any such email we send. Please note that we reserve the right to send you service related communications, including service announcements and administrative messages, relating to your transactions on this App or Services, without offering you the opportunity to opt out of receiving them unless you cancel your account. Please note that you may still receive information from third parties to whom Become may have disclosed your Personal Information prior to your opt-out. If you no longer wish to receive information from such third party, please contact them directly.

We may contact you via phone call (if you have provided us with it), voicemail, email or media messages regarding the App or Services. We may contact you by the telephone number you provided us even if your telephone number is currently listed on any internal, corporate, state, federal or national Do-Not-Call (DNC) list. If you would rather not receive telephone calls from us, you may change or delete your number from your account preferences page(s), or ask to be removed from our contact list if you receive a call from us.

Other Uses or Transfer of Your Information

We will fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing us to disclose the identity, behavior or digital content of any user suspected to have engaged in illegal or infringing behavior.

We may use subcontractors that are located in countries other than your own, and send them information we receive. All our subcontractors will be subject to non-disclosure and non-use obligations. Nevertheless, some countries may have levels of protection of personal and other information which are not as high as in your country of residence or business.

We may transfer our databases containing your Personal Information if we sell our business or part of it. 

Changes

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time and to notify you by publishing an updated version on the App – we encourage you to review it periodically.

Comments, Questions or Complaints

If you have any comments or questions about our privacy policy, please contact us at support@become.co.

 

If you are a resident of the EU, you may also reach out to us at:

https://edpo.com/gdpr-data-request/

or writing to us at:
EDPO
Avenue Huart Hamoir 71, 1030
Brussels
Belgium

UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – UK Representative

Pursuant to the UK GDPR, Become Technological Solutions Ltd has appointed EDPO UK Ltd as its UK GDPR representative in the UK. You can contact EDPO UK regarding matters pertaining to the UK GDPR:

by using EDPO UK’s online request form: https://edpo.com/uk-gdpr-data-request/
by writing to EDPO UK at 8 Northumberland Avenue, London WC2N 5BY, United Kingdom

Last updated: November 22, 2023