Privacy Policy

Your privacy is important to us. 

This Privacy Policy sets out how and why BKG Consultancy LLC (“BKG”), doing business as Beyond Billable Hours, and its affiliates and subsidiaries (collectively “BBH”, “we”, “us” or “our”) collect, use, share, transfer, and store personal data in connection with its operation of the Platform, about Platform Users, and provides information about your rights. 

This Privacy Policy (“Policy”), the Terms of Use and the Terms of Business (as applicable) (“Terms”) set out the basis upon which you can access and use the Platform and place orders for Products. The Terms apply regardless of how you access the Platform, including any technologies or devices by which the Platform is made available to you. 

We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of the personal data that is provided to us or collected by us during the course of our business including the personal data we receive from you through our Platform. This Policy sets out how and why we collect, store and use personal data, and provides information about your rights. Please read the following information carefully to understand our views and practices regarding how we handle your personal data.

Any capitalised terms not defined in this Policy are defined in (i) our Terms of Use, (ii) our Terms of Business, or (iii) are in accordance with Regulation (EU) of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the protection of free movement of this data (General Data Protection Regulation - hereinafter, “GDPR”). 

1. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR DATA PROCESSING & HOW TO CONTACT THEM? 

  • 1.1. For the purposes of this Policy, the “data controller” processing your personal information is BKG Consultancy LLC (“BKG”, “we”, “us” and “our”).

  • 1.2. If you have any questions about this Policy, or our processing of your personal data, please contact us at:

E-mail: dataprotection@beyondbillablehours.com or

BKG Consultancy LLC
Sharjah Media City
Al Messaned, Al Bataeh
Sharjah, UAE

2. COLLECTION OF PERSONAL DATA

  • 2.1. By using the Platform, you consent to our collection, use and disclosure of your personal data in accordance with the terms of this Policy. You can withdraw such consent at any time. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of the processing based on your consent prior to the withdrawal, or where we have other legitimate reasons for processing your personal data under applicable law.

  • 2.2. We may collect and process certain personal data directly from you and/or indirectly from other sources, in particular - from third party platforms you connect with the Platform such as LinkedIn or Facebook, or from publicly available sources (e.g. Internet) which is described in more detail below.

    When do we collect personal data?
    We collect personal data from you in a variety of ways when you interact with us, both online and offline, depending on how you use the Platform.

    Some examples are when you:
    • Register as a User or an Instructor on the Platform (as defined in the Terms);
    • Purchase a Product or Services (as defined in the Terms);
    • Attend any of our networking sessions or events;
    • Engage with us through the Platform or signup to our newsletter;
    • Upload content on the Platform as an Instructor;
    • Visit our website;
    • Engage with other Users in the chat function (“Community”) provided on the Platform;
    • Conduct a transaction where we collect personal data, including when required by applicable law;
    • Contact us for help on using the Platform;
    • Participate in a promotion, or survey; or
    • Otherwise submit personal data to us along with any related content of the communication

    What personal data do we collect?
    We collect and process the following personal data:

    Information you give us:
    • Contact details including name, phone number, e-mail address and address;
    • Date of birth, place of birth, place of residence, gender and nationality;
    • Identification details of Instructors such as passport copies and Emirates ID / government ID copies;
    • Information regarding Instructors’ experience such as education degree(s), work experience, qualifications and accreditations, references and other information included in a CV or professional profile;
    • Job titles;
    • A photograph of you e.g. where Instructors and Users upload this to the Platform;
    • Correspondence details including any information you provide in your communications with us;
    • Financial information such as bank account details;
    • Electronic identification details where required to access the Platform such as login and password; and
    • Social media details such as your username, if you interact with us through those channels.

    Information we collect about you online:
    With regards to each of your visits on our Platform, we automatically collect the following personal data:

    • Technical information, including the Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your device to the Internet, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system; and
    • By using cookies: we may use ‘cookies’ to collect data relating to your general internet usage information about your visit; services you viewed or searched for; page response times, download errors, length of visits, page interaction information (such as scrolling, clicks, and mouse-overs). Please see our Cookie Policy;
    • Error reports and performance information of the Products and any problems you experience, including error reports;
    • Troubleshooting and help information when you contact us to make a purchase or for support services, phone conversations, or chat sessions with us, which may be monitored and recorded; and
    • Your engagement and interaction on the Platform.

    Information we receive from other sources:
    We may obtain personal data about you from the Instructors (when the Instructors provide us with copies of your written consent), and third party sources such as public databases, joint marketing partners, social media platforms and payment providers. Examples of the information we may receive from these other sources include your name, email address or social media username. We may use the information to better understand you to enhance our ability to provide relevant marketing, and Products to you, enhance the Platform’s user experience and to help prevent and detect fraud.

3. PURPOSES 

How we use your personal data 

We use your personal data, where permitted by applicable laws to: 
  • Operate our Platform; 
  • Deliver and maintain the Products and Services; 
  • Support or carry out transactions you have requested; 
  • Establish and maintain your Account; 
  • Facilitate your use of our Platform; 
  • Offer the Products and Services; 
  • Provide assistance and respond to your online inquiries; 
  • Authenticate you; 
  • Recruitment; 
  • Help us improve and personalize our Products and Services; 
  • Detect and prevent fraud and other prohibited or illegal activities; 
  • Enforce our Terms; 
  • Manage and protect our Platform; 
  • Provide you with marketing and promotional communications, and deliver targeted and relevant advertising and relevant offers to you, which includes better predicting content and marketing offers that may interest you, through electronic communications, such as email; and 
  • Respond to requests by government or law enforcement authorities conducting an investigation and comply with our legal obligations.

As a User, you will have the option to upload your photograph on the Platform. As an Instructor, you will also upload your photograph on the Platform. We will not use or share this with any third party outside of the Platform without your consent. 


If you have any concerns about the use of your photographs or any other personal data, please contact us at the details above.


Legal Basis of Processing 
Our legal basis for collecting and using your personal data as described in this Policy will depend on the applicable law, the personal data concerned, and the specific context in which we collect it. In general, we collect and process your personal data for one or more of the following bases: 

  • Your consent. For example, where we have obtained your consent to process your personal data for certain activities. You are free to withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us. If you withdraw your consent, it will not affect the lawfulness of any processing based on your consent before you withdrew it. Where applicable, we may ask for your consent to processing at the point where you provide your personal data (e.g. for direct marketing);

  • To comply with a contractual obligation, you have to us or we have to you. For example, when you have provided your Product on the Platform, where you have requested a Product or Service, to manage our relationship with you including responding to your queries, to manage your Account or profile, to process any payments and to authenticate the identity of individuals who contact us. We will advise you upon collection whether the provision of your personal data is mandatory and of the possible consequences if you do not provide us with your information; 

  • For compliance with our legal obligations where other laws require the processing of your personal data. For example, taxation and anti-money laundering laws or to establish, defend and enforce our legal rights; or 

  • For our legitimate business interests which include: 
  o the provision of our Platform and/or relevant Products to Users; 
  o the carrying out of marketing and profiling activities; 
  o internal training and quality assurance purposes; 
  o to carry out surveys; 
  o to organise events; 
  o improving and personalising our Products and Services; 
  o to host and maintain our site; 
  o to identify potential customers; 
  o for recruitment purposes; 
  o for risk management, information security and disaster recovery purposes.  

This is provided always that our legitimate interests are not outweighed by any prejudice or harm your rights and freedoms under applicable law. 

4. SHARING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

  • 4.1. As a Student, we will share your personal data with the Instructors.

  • 4.2. In all other cases, we share Users’ personal data to our affiliated payment gateway platforms for the purposes described in this Policy, including (without limitation) to carry out transactions you request, or to make our business (or that of our affiliates) more responsive to your needs.

  • 4.3. We may contact you with information about our Products or offers through Survey Monkey or similar platforms. We will only share your personal data with our affiliates and payment gateways platforms who agree to protect your personal data and use it solely for the purposes specified by us.

  • 4.4. In addition, we will share your personal data with sales agents and channel partners, for the limited purposes of selling, marketing or providing support for the Platform and the Products offered through it. We will share your personal data with our professional service providers (such as legal, audit, finance and insurance advisors) for the purpose of us operating our business.

  • 4.5. We will also disclose your personal data in connection with law enforcement, fraud prevention or other legal action; as required by applicable law or regulation; or if we reasonably believe it is necessary to protect BKG, the Platform, other Users or the public. If BKG is sold or merges with another company, we will disclose your personal data for the continuity of business purposes.

  • 4.6. These third parties will generally be required to comply with similar undertakings of privacy and confidentiality.

5. COOKIES AND SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES

  • 5.1. The Platform uses "Cookies" to enable you to sign in to our Platform and to help personalize your online experience. These technologies and the information collected about you will be used to track your activity across multiple devices. Where appropriate, we use Cookies to store your preferences and other information on your computer and/or mobile devices in order to save you time by eliminating the need to enter the same information repeatedly. Please see our Cookie Policy.

6. SECURITY 

  • 6.1. We use up-to-date information storage and security to hold your personal data securely in electronic and physical form, to protect your personal data from unauthorized access, improper use or disclosure, unauthorized modification or unlawful destruction or accidental loss. Whilst we have put in place physical, electronic and managerial procedures to secure and safeguard your personal data, we cannot guarantee that the personal data provided by you or that is transmitted via the Platform or by electronic messaging is totally secure and safe and you provide it at your own risk.

  • 6.2. We encourage you to keep any passwords you use confidential and to be careful to avoid “phishing” scams where someone may send you an electronic message that appears to be from BKG asking for your personal data. BKG will not request your ID or password through electronic messages.

7. TRANSFERS OF PERSONAL INFORMATION 

  • 7.1. Your personal data may be transferred to and stored in servers and facilities located in countries outside the country in which you reside, including the United Arab Emirates, Greece and the Netherlands. Some of these countries may be deemed to provide an adequate level of protection, however some may not provide the same level of data protection as the country in which you reside.
  • 7.2. We only transfer personal data to such countries when it is necessary for the Products and Services we provide you and any such transfers are subject to appropriate safeguards that assure the protection of your personal data, such as approved contractual arrangements (as appropriate) or otherwise in accordance with applicable laws, including the GDPR. For further information on transfers, please contact us at dataprotection@beyondbillablehours.com.

8. YOUR COMMUNICATION PREFERENCES, OPTING OUT OF MARKETING 

  • 8.1. You may choose to receive marketing communications from us by indicating your preferences. Opportunities to select your preferences include the following:

    • You can click “unsubscribe” in any marketing electronic communications we send you, or by sending us an email at dataprotection@beyondbillablehours.com.

    • The Account settings on the Platform allow you to choose whether you wish to receive marketing communications from us, and to subscribe or unsubscribe to newsletters about our Products; and

    • You can visit our List Removal Page to manage your marketing preferences or submit a request to be removed from our advertising and marketing lists (telephone and email).

  • 8.2. Any marketing by us, or any third parties on our behalf, will be conducted in accordance with applicable laws and include (where applicable) methods to allow you to express your preferences (including the possibility of being removed from our advertising and marketing lists as set out above).

  • 8.3. As some promotions, are developed in advance, you may sometimes receive marketing communications after we receive your preference request, however we will action your request promptly. If you opt out of receiving marketing communications, we may still communicate with you in connection with transactions you request and/or service related matters.

9. YOUR RIGHTS

  • 9.1. You have the following data subject rights. Please contact us using the contact details below to exercise any of your rights:

    Access: you have the right to request information about how we process your personal data and to obtain a copy of that personal data.

    Rectification: you have the right to request the rectification of inaccurate personal data about you and for any incomplete personal information about you to be completed.

    Lodge a complaint: you have the right to lodge a complaint about the way we handle your personal data with the relevant data protection regulator.

  • 9.2. Under certain conditions, you have the following rights:

    Erasure: you have the right to request erasure of your personal data.

    Restrict and object to processing: you have the right to request us to restrict the processing of your personal data e.g. blocking any further use of your personal data and in certain circumstances you have the right to object to processing including for direct marketing.

    Right to data portability: you have the right to request us to transfer personal data we have collected about you to another organisation or directly to you.

  • 9.3. In addition to the above, you have the right to withdraw your consent to the processing of your personal data at any time with effect for the future. Such withdrawal has no effect on any past processing, i.e. it does not affect the lawfulness of the personal data processing based on consent before the withdrawal of consent.

  • 9.4. If you have any questions about the type of personal information we hold about you or if you wish to request correction of personal information we hold about you, please send a written request to dataprotection@beyondbillablehours.com. While we will make reasonable efforts to accommodate your request, we reserve the right to reject such access requests or to impose restrictions or requirements upon such requests if required or permitted by applicable law.

10. HOW LONG WE KEEP YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

  • 10.1. Generally, we retain your personal data for the duration of your use of the Platform and up to five years after you stop using the Platform. Once the time period has expired, we will delete or anonymise your personal data.

11. LINKS TO THIRD PARTY SITES

  • 11.1. Our Platform will link to other, unaffiliated third party websites. Please note that BKG does not, and cannot, control or be responsible for the content or privacy and confidentiality practices of any third party websites. You must always carefully review the privacy and confidentiality policy of any third party website that you may visit in order to understand how the operators of that website may collect, store and use your personal data.

12. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

  • 12.1. We will from time to time make changes to this Policy. Please check back regularly to keep informed of any updates to this Policy. These changes are effective immediately, after they are posted on this page. We will make all reasonable efforts to notify you of all material changes to the Policy.



Last Updated on 27 July 2021


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