Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Arkchat Logo
Last Updated : November 15, 2022

This Privacy Policy describes how Arkchat collects, uses and discloses information associated with an identified or identifiable individual (referred to in this Privacy Policy as ‘Personal Data’) and what choices you have around this activity. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

When we refer to ‘Arkchat’, we mean Arkchat Ltd incorporated in the UK, Arkchat Private Limited, incorporated in India, as explained in more detail in the ‘Identifying the data controller and processor’ section below.

Applicability of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to Arkchat’s online business messaging platform with a built in Marketplace that  includes the associated Arkchat mobile and desktop applications (collectively, the ‘Services’), Arkchat.com and other Arkchat websites (collectively, the ‘Websites’) and other interactions (e.g. Subscriber/user service enquiries, etc.) that you may have with Arkchat. If you do not agree with this Privacy Policy, then do not access or use the Services, Websites or any other aspect of Arkchat’s business. For the avoidance of doubt, this is the only privacy policy that applies to Arkchat.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to any third-party applications or software that integrate with the Services through the Arkchat platform (‘Third-Party Services’), or any other third-party products, services or businesses who will provide their services under their own terms of service and privacy policy. 

In addition, a separate agreement governs delivery, access and use of the Services (the ‘Subscriber Agreement/ Terms of Service), including the processing of data such as messages, files or other content submitted through Chat groups, DMs, posting of content on Arkchat Marketplace (collectively, ‘Subscriber Data’). A Subscriber is an individual or an organisation who opts to signup for Arkchat App/Web Platform. The person who is signing up on behalf of an organisation is the admin of the account. After signing up, the admin can invite users to join the account. Hence this Privacy  Policy is applicable to Subscribers and users of the Subscribers’ accounts

California notice of collection of personal information: We collect the information described below under ‘Information we collect and receive’ for the business and commercial purposes described below under ‘Information use’. To learn more about exercising your California privacy rights, please review the ‘California privacy rights’ section below.

Information we collect and receive

Arkchat will collect and receive information through operating the Services and Websites, and through other interactions with Arkchat. Such information will include Subscriber Data and other information and data (‘Other Information’) in a variety of ways:

Subscriber Data: Users granted access to a Subscriber account by a Subscriber routinely submit Subscriber Data (such as messages, files or other content) to Arkchat when using the Services.

Other Information :  Arkchat also collects, generates and/or receives the following categories of Other Information:

Account information: To create or update an Arkchat Account, you ( Subscriber/ user) supply Arkchat with an email address, password, domain and/or other account set-up details. In addition, Subscribers that purchase a paid version of the Services provide Arkchat (or its payment processors) with billing details such as credit card information, banking information and/or a billing address.

Usage information

Services metadata :When an User interacts with the Services, metadata is generated that provides additional context about the way that an User uses the Services. For example, Arkchat logs the Account, groups, people, features, content and links that you view or interact with, the types of files shared and what Third-Party Services are used (if any).

Log data : As with most websites and technology services delivered over the Internet, our servers automatically collect information when you access or use our Websites or Services and record it in log files. This log data may include your Internet Protocol (IP) address, the address of the web page that you visited before using the Website or Services, browser type and settings, the date and time that the Services were used, information about browser configuration and plugins, and your language preferences.

Device information : Arkchat collects information about devices accessing the Services, including type of device, what operating system is used, device settings, application IDs, unique device identifiers and crash data. Whether we collect some or all of this Other Information often depends on the type of device used and its settings.

Location information : We receive information from you, our Subscribers and other third parties that helps us to approximate your location. We may, for example, use a business address submitted by Subscriber/user or an IP address received from your browser or device to determine approximate location to assist with localisation or for security purposes.

Cookie information

Arkchat uses a variety of cookies and similar technologies in our Websites and Services to help us collect Other Information. For more details about how we use these technologies, and your opt-out controls and other options, please visit our Cookie Policy.

Third-Party Services information

A Subscriber can choose to permit or restrict Third-Party Services for its account and Arkchat can receive personal data from such Third-Party Services. Typically, Third-Party Services are software that integrate with our Services, and a Subscriber can permit its users to enable and disable these integrations for its Account. Once enabled, the provider of a Third-Party Service may share certain information with Arkchat. For example, if a cloud storage application that you are using is enabled to permit files to be imported to ‘chats’, we may receive the user name and email address of users, along with additional information that the application makes available to Arkchat to facilitate the integration. Users should check the privacy settings and notices in these Third-Party Services to understand what data may be disclosed to Arkchat. When a Third-Party Service is enabled, Arkchat is authorised to connect and access Other Information made available to Arkchat in accordance with our agreement with the provider of the Third-Party Service and any permission(s) granted by our Subscriber(including by its users). Examples of information which Arkchat may receive in this manner include whether you successfully created a new account or interacted with a third-party application in a way that is attributable to Arkchat usage activity. We do not, however, receive or store passwords for any of these Third-Party Services when connecting them to the Services.

Contact information

In accordance with the consent process provided by your device or other third-party API, any contact information that an user chooses to import (such as importing an address book to find colleagues and Arkchat Connect contacts or calendar from a device or API), forward or upload to the Services (for example, when sending emails to the Services) is collected when using the Services.

1. Third-party data: Arkchat may receive data about organisations, industries, lists of companies that are Subscribers, website visitors, marketing campaigns and other matters related to our business from parent corporation(s), affiliates and subsidiaries, our partners or others that we use to make our own information better or more useful. This data may be combined with Other Information that we collect and might include aggregate-level data, such as which IP addresses correspond to postcodes or countries. Or it might be more specific: for example, how well an online marketing or email campaign performed.

1. Audio and video metadata: Arkchat may receive, capture and store metadata derived from your use of Arkchat features.

2. Additional information provided to Arkchat: We also receive Other Information when submitted to our Websites or in other ways, such as responses or opinions that you provide if you participate in a focus group, contest, activity or event, feedback that you provide about our products or services, information that you provide if you apply for a job with Arkchat, enrol in a certification programme or other educational programme hosted by Arkchat or a vendor, request support, interact with our social media accounts or otherwise communicate with Arkchat.

Generally, no one is under a statutory or contractual obligation to provide any Subscriber Data or Other Information (collectively “Information”). However, certain Information is collected automatically and if some Information, such as Subscribe Account details, is not provided, we may be unable to provide the Services.

How we process your information and our legal bases for doing so

Subscriber Data will be used by Arkchat in accordance with a Subscriber’s instructions, including to provide the Services, any applicable terms in the Subscriber Agreement/ Terms of Service a Subscriber’s use of Services functionality and as required by applicable law. Arkchat is a processor of Subscriber Data and the Subscriber is the controller. The Subscriber may, for example, use the Services to grant and remove access to a Subscriber account, assign roles and configure settings, access, modify, export, share and remove Subscriber Data, and otherwise apply its policies to the Services.

Arkchat uses Other Information to operate it’s Services, Websites and business. More specifically, Arkchat uses Other Information for the following purposes:
Compliance with a legal obligation:

Arkchat processes Other Information when we comply with a legal obligation including, for example, to access, preserve or disclose certain information if there is a valid legal request from a regulator, law enforcement or others. For example, a search warrant or production order from law enforcement to provide information in relation to an investigation, such as your profile picture or IP address.

We use account information, Chats, usage information, cookie information, Third-Party Services information, contact information, third-party data, audio and video metadata, and additional information provided to Arkchat for compliance with a legal obligation.

Legitimate interests

We rely on our legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party where they are not outweighed by your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms (‘legitimate interests’).

We use Chats, account information, usage information, cookie information, Third-Party Services information, contact information, third-party data, audio and video metadata, and additional information provided to Arkchat for the following legitimate interests:

• To provide, update, maintain and protect our Services, Websites and business.
This includes the use of Other Information to support delivery of the Services under a Subscriber Agreement/Terms of Service, prevent or address service errors, security or technical issues, analyse and monitor usage, trends and other activities, or at an user’s request. It is in our and your interests to provide, update, maintain and protect our Services, Websites and business.

• To develop and provide search, learning and productivity and additional features.
Arkchat tries to make the Services as useful as possible for specific Subscriber account and its users. For example, we may:

1. improve search functionality by using Other Information to help determine and rank the relevance of content, channels or expertise to an user;
2. make Services or Third-Party Service suggestions based on historical use and predictive models;
3. identify organisational trends and insights;
4. customise a Services experience; or
5. create new productivity features and products. It is in our interest and in the interest of Subscribers and users to continuously improve and develop the Subscriber support that we provide.

• To investigate and help prevent security issues and abuse.
We may use a variety of tools such as device fingerprinting to prevent issues and abuse. We may process, including in an automated fashion, Other Information to better understand how Arkchat is used or to prevent spam or abuse. It is in our interest to keep the Services secure and to detect, prevent and address abuse (such as spam) and to investigate and take action in respect of suspicious activity on the Services.

• To aggregate or de-identify information.
In some cases, we aggregate or de-identify information that we have associated with you and use the resulting information, for example, to improve the Services.

º It is in our interest to research and improve the Services;
º It is in the interests of Subscribers and users to practice data minimisation and privacy by design in respect of their information.

• Share information with others, including law enforcement, and to respond to legal requests.

º It is in our interest and the interest of the general public to prevent and address fraud, unauthorised use of Arkchat, violations of our terms or other harmful or illegal activity; to protect ourselves, our users or others, including as part of investigations or regulatory inquiries; or to prevent death or imminent bodily harm.

• Transfer, store or process your information outside the European Economic Area.
As the Websites and Services operate globally, with Subscribers around the world, we need to share information that we collect globally. We carry out necessary transfers outside the European Economic Area, including to Australia, Canada, Japan, India, South Korea and the United States, to provide, update, maintain and protect our Services, Websites and business.

For more information, review the ‘International data transfers’ section below.

º It is in our and your interests to provide, update, maintain and protect our Services, Websites and business.

We use Workspace and account information, Third-Party Services information, third-party data and additional information provided to Arkchat for the following legitimate interests:

• To communicate with you by responding to your requests, comments and questions.
If you contact us, we may use your Other Information to respond.

º It is in our, Subscribers’ and users’ interests to facilitate communication (for example to answer questions from Subscribers and users).

To send service emails and other communications. For example, we may:

º send you service, technical and other administrative emails, messages and other types of communications; or
º contact you to inform you about changes in our Services, our Services offerings and important Services-related notices, such as security and fraud notices. These communications are considered part of the Services, and you may not opt out of them. It is in our Subscribers’ and users’ interests to address service-related issues.

We use Chats and account information and usage information for the following legitimate interests:

For billing, account management and other administrative matters.
Arkchat may need to contact you for invoicing, account management and similar reasons and we use account data to administer accounts and keep track of billing and payments.

º It is in our interest to facilitate the effective provision and administration of the Websites and Services.

We use Chats and account information for the following legitimate interest:

• To send marketing emails and other communications.
We sometimes send emails about new product features, promotional communications or other news about Arkchat. These are marketing messages, so you can control whether you receive them. If you have additional questions about a message that you have received from Arkchat, please get in touch through the contact mechanisms described below.

º It is in our interest to promote the Websites and Services and send our direct marketing.

How we share and disclose information

This section describes how Arkchat may share and disclose Information, as described in the section entitled ‘Information we collect and receive’ above. Subscribers determine their own policies and practices for the sharing and disclosure of Information to third parties. Arkchat does not control how a Subscriber or any third party chooses to share or disclose Information.

•The Subscriber’s instructions. Arkchat may share and disclose Information in accordance with a Subscriber’s instructions and with appropriate consent, including any applicable terms in the Subscriber Agreement/Terms of service and the Subscriber’s use of Services functionality and in compliance with applicable law and legal process. Some sharing at a Subscriber’s request may incur additional fees.

º To enable Arkchat to follow Subscribers’ instructions, Arkchat provides several controls to allow Subscribers to manage their account. For example, we follow our Subscribers’ instructions to enable or disable users’ use of various features of the Services, group management related permissions, the sharing and visibility of direct messages including files, or whether and how users can connect with Internal and External teams  through chats.

•Displaying the Services. When an User submits Information, it may be displayed or discoverable to other users in the same group. For example, an user’s email address may be displayed with their  profile, or other organisational information may be displayed to users. 

• Collaborating with others. The Services provide different ways for users working in groups to collaborate, or email interoperability. Information, such as an user’s profile and organisational information, may be shared. In many instances, Arkchat includes either administrator controls or user controls, depending on the use case, with respect to external team collaboration. users may also decide to expand the visibility of certain content and Subscriber Data, such as files.

• Subscriber access. Owners, administrators, users and other Subscriber representatives and personnel may be able to access, modify or restrict access to Information. 

• Third-party service providers and partners. We may engage third-party companies or individuals as service providers or business partners to process Information and support our business. These third parties may, for example, provide virtual computing and storage services, assist Arkchat with verifying Subscribers, or we may share business information to develop strategic partnerships with Third-Party Service providers to support our common Subscribers. In this respect, depending on the Third-Party Service provided, Arkchat may share your Information. 

•Third-Party Services. A Subscriber may enable, or permit users to enable, Third-Party Services. We require each Third-Party Service provider to disclose all permissions for information accessible through the Services, but we do not guarantee that they do so. When Third-Party Services are enabled by a Subscriber or an user, Arkchat may share Information with Third-Party Services. Third-Party Services are not owned or controlled by Arkchat and third parties that have been granted access to Information may have their own policies and practices for its collection, use and sharing. Please check the permissions, privacy settings and notices for these Third-Party Services, or contact the provider if you have any questions.

•Forums. The Information that you choose to provide in a community forum, including personal data, will be publicly available.

• Organisers and sponsors of events/webinars. If you attend an event or webinar organised by Arkchat, we may share your profile and organisational information with the event or webinar sponsors when you register, have your badge scanned or join a breakout room. If required by applicable law, you may consent to such sharing via the registration form or by allowing your attendee badge to be scanned at a sponsor booth. In these circumstances, your information will be subject to the sponsors’ privacy statements. For more information, please refer to the terms provided when you register for such an event or webinar.

• Professional advisers. We may share your Information with professional advisers acting as service providers, processors, controllers or joint controllers – including lawyers, bankers, auditors and insurers who provide consultancy, banking, legal, insurance and accounting services, and to the extent we are legally obliged to share or have a legitimate interest in sharing your Information containing personal data.

• Corporate affiliates. Arkchat may share Information with our corporate affiliates, parents and/or subsidiaries.

• During a change to Arkchat’s business. If Arkchat engages in a merger, acquisition, bankruptcy, dissolution, reorganisation, sale of some or all of Arkchat’s assets or stock, financing, public offering of securities, acquisition of all or a portion of our business, a similar transaction or proceeding, or steps in contemplation of such activities, some or all of the Information described in the ‘Information we collect and receive’ section may be shared or transferred, subject to standard confidentiality arrangements.

• Aggregated or deidentified Data. We may disclose or use aggregated or de-identified Information for any purpose. For example, we may share aggregated or de-identified Information with prospects or partners for business or research.

• Law enforcement and regulators. If we receive a request for information, we may disclose Other Information if we reasonably believe that disclosure is in accordance with or required by any applicable law, regulation or legal process. 

• To enforce our rights, prevent fraud and for safety. To protect and defend the rights, property or safety of Arkchat, its users or third parties, including enforcing its contracts or policies, or in connection with investigating and preventing illegal activity, fraud or security issues, including to prevent death or imminent bodily harm.

• With consent. Arkchat may share Information with third parties when we have consent to do so or as otherwise permitted in this Privacy Policy. 

• Data retention

Arkchat will retain Subscriber Data in accordance with a Subscriber’s instructions (including to perform any applicable terms in the Subscriber Agreement/Terms of Service and through the Subscriber’s use of Services functionality) and as required by applicable law. The deletion of Subscriber Data and other use of the Services by the Subscriber may result in the deletion and/or de-identification of certain associated Other Information. 

Arkchat may retain Other Information pertaining to you for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy (such as to provide the Services, including any optional features that you use, and to provide Subscriber support). This may include keeping your Other Information after you have deactivated your account for the period of time needed for Arkchat to pursue legitimate business interests, conduct audits, comply with (and demonstrate compliance with) legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements.

Security

Arkchat takes security of data very seriously. Arkchat works hard to protect Information that you provide from loss, misuse and unauthorised access or disclosure. These steps take into account the sensitivity of the Information that we collect, process and store, and the current state of technology. Given the nature of communications and information processing technology, Arkchat cannot guarantee that Information during transmission through the Internet or while stored on our systems or otherwise in our care will be absolutely safe from intrusion by others. When you click a link to a third-party site, you will be leaving our site, and we don’t control or endorse what is on third-party sites.

Age limitations

Arkchat does not allow use of our Services and Websites by anyone younger than 16 years old, to the extent prohibited by applicable law. If you learn that anyone younger than 16 has unlawfully provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will take steps to delete such information.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

Arkchat may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. Laws, regulations and industry standards evolve, which may make those changes necessary, or we may make changes to our services or business. We will post the changes to this page and encourage you to review our Privacy Policy to stay informed. If we make changes that materially alter your privacy rights, Arkchat will provide additional notice, such as via email or through the Services. If you disagree with the changes to this Privacy Policy, you should deactivate your account. Contact the Subscriber if you wish to request the removal of Personal Data under their control.

International data transfers

Arkchat may transfer your Personal Data to countries other than the one in which you live. To the extent that Personal Data is transferred abroad, Arkchat will ensure compliance with the requirements of the applicable laws in the respective jurisdiction in line with Arkchat’s obligations.
In particular, we offer the following safeguards if Arkchat transfers Personal Data from jurisdictions with differing data protection laws:

• European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses. Arkchat uses Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission (and the equivalent standard contractual clauses for the UK, where appropriate) for transfers to, among others, Australia, Canada, India, Japan, South Korea and the United States. Arkchat will transfer your Personal Data to facilitate the provision of the Services.

Data Protection Officer

To communicate with our Data Protection Officer, please email dpo@arkchat.com

Identifying the Data Controller and Processor

Data protection law in certain jurisdictions differentiates between the ‘controller’ and ‘processor’ of information. In general, the Subscriber is the controller of Subscriber Data. In general, Arkchat is the processor of Subscriber Data and the controller of Other Information. Different Arkchat entities provide the Services in different parts of the world.

Arkchat Ltd, a British company based in London, United Kingdom, is the controller of Other Information and a processor of Subscriber Data relating to users who use accounts established for Subscribers outside of India.

Arkchat Private Limited, an Indian company based in Gurgaon, India, is the controller of Other Information and a processor of Subscriber Data relating to users who use accounts established for Subscribers in India.

Your rights

Individuals in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, Brazil and across the globe have certain statutory rights in relation to their personal data. Subject to any exemptions provided by law, you may have the right to request access to your personal information, as well as to seek to update, delete or correct this information. You can do this using the settings and tools provided in your account. If you cannot find desired update/delete/correct in the settings and tools, contact support@arkchat.com

To the extent that Arkchat’s processing of your Personal Data is subject to the General Data Protection Regulation or other applicable laws requiring a legal basis for processing Personal Data, such as the UK Data Protection Act and the Brazilian General Data Protection Act (Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados), Arkchat primarily relies on its legitimate interests, described above, to process your Personal Data. Where we rely on legitimate interests to process your Personal Data, you can object to that processing by contacting us as described in the ‘Contacting Arkchat’ section below. In response to your objection, we will stop processing your information for the relevant purposes unless we have compelling grounds in the circumstances or the processing is necessary in the context of legal claims. Arkchat may also process Other Information that constitutes your Personal Data for direct marketing purposes, and you have a right to object to Arkchat’s use of your Personal Data for this purpose at any time.

Your California privacy rights

This section provides additional details about the personal information we collect about California consumers and the rights afforded to them under the California Consumer Privacy Act or “CCPA”.

In addition to the information provided above in the ‘Information we collect and receive’ section, we collect the following categories of personal information from you, your employer, data analytics providers, data brokers and Third-Party Services:
• Identifiers/contact information;
• Commercial information;
• Internet or electronic network activity information;
• Financial information;
• Geolocation information;
• Professional or employment-related information; and
• Inferences drawn from any of the above categories.

We collect this information for the business and commercial purposes described in the sections above. Arkchat does not sell (as such term is defined in the CCPA or otherwise) the personal information that we collect (and will not sell it without providing a right to opt out). Please note that we do use third-party cookies for our advertising purposes, as further described in our cookie policy.

Subject to certain limitations, the CCPA provides California consumers the right to request to know more details about the categories or specific pieces of personal information that we collect (including how we use, disclose or may sell this information), to delete their personal information, to opt out of any ‘sales’ that may be occurring, and to not be discriminated against for exercising these rights.

California consumers may make a request pursuant to their rights under the CCPA by contacting us at privacy@arkchat.com . We will verify your request using the information associated with your account, including the email address. Government identification may be required. Consumers can also designate an authorised agent to exercise these rights on their behalf. Authorised agents must submit proof of authorisation.

Data Protection Authority

Subject to applicable law, you also have the right to (i) restrict Arkchat’s use of Other Information that constitutes your Personal Data and (ii) lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. If, however, you believe that we have not been able to assist with your complaint or concern, and you are located in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority. If you work or reside in a country that is a member of the European Union or that is in the EEA, you may find the contact details for your appropriate data protection authority on the following website. If you are a resident of the United Kingdom you may contact the UK supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Contacting Arkchat

Please also feel free to contact Arkchat if you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or Arkchat’s practices or if you are seeking to exercise any of your statutory rights. Arkchat will respond within a reasonable timeframe. You can contact us at privacy@arkchat.com or at our postal address below:

For Subscribers and users who use accounts established for Subscribers in the countries, other than India:

Arkchat Ltd
71-75 Shelton Street,
Covent Garden London
WC2H9JQ
or

For Subscribers and users who use accounts established for Subscribers in India

Arkchat Private Limited
2nd Floor, Vatika Atrium
DLF Golf Course Road,
Sectoar 53 Gurgaon- 122002
India