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Effective date: 11 February 2021
1. Introduction
We are Boku, Inc. of 735 Battery St. San Francisco, CA, 94111.
When you use our services, you trust us with your personal information. We are committed to maintaining that trust and want to provide transparency about how we protect, collect, use and share the personal information you share with us.
This privacy notice applies to users of the Boku services anywhere in the world, including those who contact our customer support team.
2. Data Controller
If you are a resident of the United States or any country not in the European Economic Area (EEA) the data controller for the information you provide or that is collected by Boku is Boku, Inc.
If you are a resident in the United Kingdom, your data controller is Boku, Inc. which has appointed Boku Network Services UK Ltd as its designated representative.If you are a resident in the EEA, your data controller is Boku, Inc. which has appointed Boku Network Services IE Limited as its designated representative.
Full details of who to contact in connection with any issue relating to how we use your personal information are set out at the foot of this Privacy Notice.
3. Personal Data Collected
We want to ensure you are aware of our practices for collecting and processing personal information.
You are not under any obligation to provide any of the below personal information to us, however, if you do not provide this information, we will either be unable to provide our services to you, or our ability to do so may be significantly hindered.
The personal information we collect about you is used to provide our services in connection with our contract with you.
In processing your payment, we will collect the following information:
- your mobile number;
- information about your browser and / or device and other attached metadata including language and locale settings;
- computer, mobile network operator, or network connection identifiers including your IP address;
- billing amount, product description and merchant.
If you contact our customer support team, we may also ask you to share the following additional information which we will use to process your customer enquiry (including for the purposes of verifying your information with merchants and mobile network operators):
- your full name;
- your email address;
- any other information that we require, and which you provide to us with your consent, to process your enquiry (or which you provide to us through one of our customer support mediums).
If you use our e-money product and exceed certain spending thresholds, we may also ask that you provide us with the following information:
- your full name;
- your email address;
- your residential address and proof of your residential address;
- your identification documentation.
If you visit our website www.boku.com we will routinely collect information from you, namely your IP address, browser type, operating system, date and time settings, the files you request, referring websites, and country from which you make your request.
4. How we use this data – legal basis and purpose
Boku is committed to ensuring the information we obtain and use about you is processed in accordance with its intended purpose.
The ways we use your information are:
- processing your transaction;
- providing, operating and improving the Boku services;
- sending electronic communications to you as part of, or in connection with, the Boku services;
- restricting access to the Boku services in the event of an opt-out;
- combatting and preventing crime, fraud and abuse on our systems;
- complying with certain legal obligations, including “Know Your Client” (KYC), customer due diligence (CDD) and Anti Money Laundering (AML) requirements;
- processing and responding to any customer services enquiries you may make;
- managing and understanding our ongoing relationship with you.
We may also combine your information with public information or other information we receive from third parties for the purposes of providing, operating and improving the Boku services.
Accordingly, all of the information that we process about you is done on the basis of one or more of the following:
- clear consent provided by you for us to process your data for a specific purpose;
- for the performance of our contract or a merchant’s contract with you;
- to comply with legal obligations that we are subject to; and / or
- for purposes which are in our legitimate interests, or those of third parties.
We may use your personal information for automated individual decision-making or profiling as permitted by law to monitor and prevent fraud and abuse on our systems, to ensure the security and reliability of our services, and as needed to enter into or perform our contract with you. We will not use any special categories of personal information for these purposes.
5. How your data is shared
We will not sell, rent, or lease your personal information. We may however share the information you share with us, for the purposes identified above, with the following parties:
- merchants with whom you engage or transact using the Boku services;
- our affiliate and group companies;
- mobile network operators and local payment methods with whom you have an existing contractual relationship;
- our employees, contractors, agents and advisors, for example our financial, business and legal advisors;
- our partners and vendors, who help us provide the Boku services;
- with law enforcement and public authorities as permitted under applicable laws and regulations.
Where we share your personal information with the third-parties listed above, we require that such third-parties process your personal information on terms which provide appropriate safeguards for your privacy and the confidentiality of your information.
6. How your data is retained and protected
Retention
We will retain your information for the period necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in this Privacy Notice, unless a shorter or longer retention period is required, justified or permitted by law. We make no commitment to retain your data for any period and you should not rely on us to do this.
Under normal circumstances we will retain your information in our live database for a period of two years from the date of your transaction with us or from the date of your engagement with our customer services team. After this two-year period has expired, we will archive your data for a further five years. Following the expiry of the archive period, we will retire your personal information.
Upon retirement, the personal information that we collect about you will be erased or anonymised; we may continue to process anonymised data after this seven-year period to improve our services or assess market trends.
We may however retain your information for more than the seven years if we have lawful and legitimate reasons to retain your data, such as to defend our legal position or combat fraud and abuse on our services or the services of our partners.
Security
At Boku, we take all reasonable efforts to ensure security on our systems.
If Boku learns of a personal data breach, we may attempt to notify you electronically, via email or text, so that you can take appropriate protective steps.
7. Your rights and your choices about your information
Boku is committed to collecting and retaining the personal information you provide to us in accordance with your wishes and as permitted or required by law.
As a matter of transparency, we also consider it important, where possible, to provide real-time access for you to review your personal information that we keep.
You can view the information we keep about you including your transaction history by logging in to the Boku Transaction Portal. From the Boku Transaction Portal you can also opt out of certain Boku services. Additionally, if you have made a customer services enquiry with Boku, you can also review the history of this enquiry by logging in to your Boku Customer Support account.
You are able to request that we correct, provide a copy of, stop using and / or erase your personal information at any time. Our systems are designed to provide data portability and we will assist you in exercising your rights over the data we keep about you. However, even if you request that we stop using and /or that we erase your personal information, we may continue to hold and / or process your personal information if:
- it is necessary for the performance of our contract with you;
- it is necessary for the performance of a merchant’s contract with you;
- it is necessary to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation to which we are subject;
- the processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
If you require further information or would like to make an enquiry about your information that we hold and process, then you can contact us at dataprotection@boku.com. We will reply to your request within thirty (30) days of your submission or in accordance with relevant laws.
You can help us maintain accurate records by informing us of changes or modifications to your personal information.
8. Further information
Cookies and other similar technologies
Cookies are files placed on your computer, mobile phone or other device used to identify and track visitors across websites and to compile statistical reports or website activity.
You can alter your browser settings to not accept cookies however, in a few cases some of our website features may not function as a result.
Boku and its partners use cookies or similar technologies to analyse trends, administer their websites, track users’ movements around the Internet, and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole.
We partner with third-parties to advertise our services. Our third-party vendors and partners may use cookies or similar technologies in order to provide you advertising based upon your browsing activities and interests.
The use of cookies by our partners, merchants and service providers is not covered by our Privacy Notice. We do not have access or control over these cookies. Our partners, merchants and service providers may use session ID cookies to make it easier for you to navigate our site.
Use by children
We understand the importance of taking extra precautions to protect the privacy and safety of children using Boku’s services. Children under the age of 13, or equivalent minimum age in the relevant jurisdiction, are not permitted to use the Boku services (the “Age Limit”). If you are under the Age Limit, please do not use the Boku services and do not provide any personal information to us.
If you suspect we have collected the personal information of a child under the Age Limit and you are that child’s parent of guardian, please contact us via our Customer Services team.
Global operations
Boku is a company operating in multiple jurisdictions around the world. As described in this Privacy Notice, we will share your information within our group of companies or with third-parties, which may require us to export your information described in this Privacy Notice across national boundaries.
If you are based in the EEA or the United Kingdom, when you use the Boku services, you authorise us to transfer, store, and process your information in the following territories:
- any country within the EEA; and / or
- any county outside the EEA:
(a) which is on the European Commission’s list of approved territories as providing adequate data protection for the rights and freedoms of individuals;
(b) where Boku has ensured appropriate safeguards via the Standard Contractual Clauses or with such third parties for the transfer of your personal information in compliance with such organisational and technological safeguards as are necessary to protect your privacy.
Standard Contractual Clauses
The European Commission has approved the use of Standard Contractual Clauses as a means of ensuring adequate protection when data is transferred outside of the EEA to third countries that have not been approved via an adequacy decision from the European Commission. Through the use of the Standard Contractual Clauses, data which is transferred to third countries will be protected when transferred outside the EEA or the United Kingdom. Boku relies on the Standard Contractual clauses for any transfers to third party countries that have not been approved via an adequacy decision from the European Commission such as the United States and by using the Boku services you agree to that reliance.
EU-U.S. Privacy Shield and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield
More information on the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield may be obtained here.
Boku complies with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework and the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework (“Privacy Shield”) as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of personal information transferred from the European Union and the United Kingdom and/or Switzerland to the United States in reliance on Privacy Shield.
Boku has certified to the Department of Commerce that it adheres to the Privacy Shield Principles. If there is any conflict between the terms in this Privacy Notice and the Privacy Shield Principles, the Privacy Shield Principles shall govern. To learn more about the Privacy Shield Framework, and to view our certification, please visit the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Privacy Shield List.
Boku is responsible for the processing of personal information shared with third-parties under the Privacy Shield Framework unless it can be established that we are not responsible for the event giving rise to the claim. With respect to personal information received or transferred pursuant to the Privacy Shield Framework, Boku is subject to the regulatory enforcement powers of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”).
If you have any questions or concerns related to our Privacy Shield certification or to resolve any complaints about our collection or use of your personal information, you should first contact us Boku, Inc. at:
- Boku, Inc., Legal Department, 735 Battery St, San Francisco, CA 94111, USA or by email addressed to dataprotection@boku.com.
Boku Inc. has further committed to cooperate with the panel established by the EU data protection authorities (DPAs) and the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) with regard to unresolved Privacy Shield complaints concerning personal information transferred from the EU and Switzerland to the United States. The independent recourse mechanism for Privacy Shield complaints for EU and Swiss individuals can be found here:
- EU Data Protection Authorities (DPAs)
- Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC)
Under certain conditions, more fully described on the Privacy Shield website, you may be entitled to invoke binding arbitration when other dispute resolution options do not satisfactorily resolve your concerns.
Following the Schrems II judgment on 16 July 2020, Boku no longer relies on the Privacy Shield Framework for transfers of personal data from the EEA or the United Kingdom to the United States.
9. Who to contact
Should you have further questions regarding our Privacy Notice or about how your personal information is used, you can contact us through any of the following mediums:
Email: dataprotection@boku.com
If you are not a resident of the EEA, Switzerland or the United Kingdom, please write to:
Data Protection Officer
Boku Inc.
735 Battery St.
San Francisco, CA, 94111
If you are a resident of the EEA or Switzerland, please write to:
Data Protection Officer
Boku, Inc.
c/o Boku Network Services IE Limited
5-7 O’Connell Street
Dublin 1
If you are a resident of the United Kingdom, please write to:
Data Protection Officer
Boku, Inc.
c/o Boku Network Services UK Ltd
2nd floor, 9 Orange Street,
London, WC2H 7EA
United Kingdom
Further information pertaining to Boku’s German operations can be found on the Boku Impressum.
10. The right to complain
If you are based in the EEA or Switzerland, and consider our use of your personal information to be unlawful, you have the right to lodge a complaint with our supervisory authority, i.e. the Office of the Information Commissioner in Ireland.
If you are based in the United Kingdom, and consider our use of your personal information to be unlawful, you have the right to lodge a complaint with our supervisory authority, i.e. the Information Commissioner’s Office in the United Kingdom.
11. Policy amendments
This website will always contain our current Privacy Notice. If we decide to change our privacy practices, we will post those changes to this Privacy Notice and other places we deem appropriate.
We reserve the right to modify this privacy notice at any time, so please review it frequently. If we change how we use your personally identifiable information, we will notify you here, by email, or by means of a notice on our home page.
