Conoceus.com - Privacy Policy

Effective date: August, 2024

Conoceus.com (hereinafter, “We”, “Us”, “this/our Website”) is firmly committed to regulatory compliance and the privacy and protection of personal data. Accordingly, in the present Privacy Policy, We provide the relevant information about how We process the personal data and private information of our users/customers in connection with the provision of our assistance services for obtaining a B1B2 visa and Canada visa. In this regard, please be aware that if the User confirms the payment of our professional services offered by this website, you automatically acquire the status of Customer and are linked to our Terms and Conditions, (hereinafter, “the Customer”, “you”, “your”).

We may update this Privacy Policy according to new legislative or jurisprudential requirements and/or business needs, among others. Any update or modification of the present Privacy Policy will be considered applicable from the moment of its publication on this website. Therefore, you are recommended to review this Privacy Policy regularly.

To access and use our website and assistance services you must be an adult and have the legal capacity to enter into contracts, according to the applicable national laws and regulations of your birth or residence country.

Without affecting your rights under applicable legislation, the present Privacy Policy is not contractual or part of your contract with us.

What Does Personal Data Mean?

For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, "personal data" means all data that identifies you or could be used to do so, as well as information on how you use this Website, such as your name and surname, contact email, passport number, payment information, order code, IP address, etc.

Who Is the Personal Data Controller?

The Company, as stated in our Terms and Conditions, will be the controller of any personal data collected from you for the provision of our professional assistance services.

We are not a law firm and, therefore, do not provide legal advice or legal representation. No attorney-client relationship is formalized by using our assistance services for obtaining a B1B2 visa. The services offered through this Website do not replace, in any case, a licensed attorney or specialized law firm. Therefore, if you think you need it, We recommend that you consult with a duly licensed attorney.

When Does This Privacy Policy Apply?

This Privacy Policy applies to the personal data that We collect and process from you when you (i) browse this Website, (ii) fulfill the B1B2 visa and Canada application form and/or (ii) contact our Customer Service.

Our Website may contain functionalities or links that may redirect you to third-party websites. In this case, please note that these third-party websites are not operated by Us, so We cannot assume any responsibility for the information and content provided on them, nor for the correct provision of the functionalities and/or services offered by these third parties since We have no control over this. These third party websites are bound by their own cookie and privacy policies and you must consult them for further information on how your personal data is processed by them.

Likewise, in the section “Who Do We Share Personal Data With?” We inform you of other third parties with whom We may share your personal data for legitimate purposes. You should consult their privacy policies to obtain more information about the data processing they carry out.

What Type of Personal Data Do We Collect and Process?

We collect the following categories of personal data:

Identification data which are required to apply for a visa B1B2 and a Canada visa. (e.g: name and surname, contact email, passport number, date and place of birth, nationality, country of residence, etc).
Payment information which is necessary to hire our professional assistance services (e.g: CPF, card number, codes and/or references required by the method of payment selected by you).
Identification data of your application, such as your B1B2 and Canada visa application code/reference number provided with the payment confirmation email, which will be required by our Customer Service to locate your Customer File and for security and privacy reasons.
Private information or additional identification data required by the US consulate or embassy and/or the Government of Canada.
Information collected by means of automated technologies such as cookies (eg: your IP address, the sections you consult on our website, or the time that you remain). You can consult our Cookie Policy to obtain more information about the use of cookies on our website, their purposes, and other information of interest.

In all cases, We only collect and process the minimum personal data which are strictly necessary for the fulfillment of the purposes described in the section “What Do We Use Your Personal Data For?”. If you provide us with more information than that expressly required, you consent to the processing of it for the purpose/s for which you are sending it. In this sense, please be informed that:

You must provide accurate, updated and complete personal data and/or private information in order to adequately fulfill the purposes for which they are collected and that are detailed below. Not providing this information requested could result in the inability to assist you and/or address your informational requests, etc. In this sense:
- We will also probably ask you for additional information/documentation if the provided one is incomplete and/or erroneous.
- if you provide us with more information than that which is expressly required, you consent to the processing of said information for the informed purpose/s for which you are sending it.
If you provide Us with the personal data of third parties, whether these are from minors or adults, you confirm that you have informed them about the purposes for which their personal data will be processed and you guarantee that you have obtained their prior and express consent to communicate their personal data to us. In this sense, if you provide us with the personal data of a minor, you guarantee that you are a parent and/or legal guardian and, therefore, you consent to the processing of your child/ward’s personal data. The Company will not accept any responsibility for any breach of this requirement.

Remarks:

We offer different methods of payment. For some payment methods (e.g. card payments), We have partial access to your payment information, and for other payment methods (e.g: bank transfer), We do not have access to the payment information. If you select card payment, the captured data will be sent securely to our certified payment service providers for the authorization of the transaction. If you select a payment method other than credit/debit cards, for any payment-related transactions, you will be directly contacted by our payment service providers who may request additional information to locate your order and to manage your request (e.g: bank details).
According to the above, the Company will not be held responsible if:
- It has been provided with erroneous, incomplete and/or fraudulent information from you which prevents the correct provision of our assistance services in connection with obtaining the B1B2 and/or Canada visa application.
- The Users and/or Customers are minors and do not have the legal capacity to contract the Services offered on this Website in accordance with the laws and regulations of their birth or residence country. In this sense, it is the sole responsibility of parents and/or legal guardians to exercise adequate control over their minor children’s/ward’s online activity and to prevent their access to websites whose content is not suitable or recommended for minors and that allow the sending of personal data without the prior authorization of their parents or legal guardians.
- The Company receives personal data and/or private information from an individual who is not the B1B2 and/or Canada visa applicant, without having requested the applicant’s consent to communicate his/her personal data to us. In such a case, the Company reserves the right to inform the data subject how his/her personal data and/or private information has been collected and, where appropriate, We will ask the individual who provided the personal data to the Company to confirm he/she requested the consent of the data subject and, where appropriate, to amend this circumstance.

What Do We Use Your Personal Data For?

We collect and process your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide you with our professional assistance services to obtain a B1B2 and/or Canada visa and to ask you for additional information required.
To provide you with the payment documents, codes or references for payment of our private service fee and to send you operational emails, such as payment confirmation emails, invoices, etc.
To send you the voucher for payment of consular fees.
To send you updated information regarding the scheduled consular appointment. In this regard, We may contact you if further personal information and/or additional documentation is required to properly request your consular appointment.
To attend to your information and/or refund inquiries sent to our Customer Service.
For administrative and/or security purposes, such as accounting and billing tasks and, where appropriate, to verify your payment information.
To comply with our legal obligations, legal requirements, laws and regulations, and/or to respond to judicial, police, or other authority requirements.
To protect, investigate, and prevent fraudulent, unauthorized, or illegal activities on or through this website.
To improve our website, services, and customer support, and to enhance your user experience on our website by analyzing your behavior while browsing this website.

What Is the Legal Basis for Processing Your Personal Data?

We only process your personal data when there is a legal basis for doing so. The legal basis will depend on the reason We collect and process your personal data. In almost all cases the legal basis will be:

The execution of the service provision contract with you (e.g. submitting your B1B2 and/or Canada visa application, scheduling your consular interview appointment, etc).
The consent you have provided to us for the processing of your personal data in connection to the purposes informed at the time of collection of your data (e.g to answer your queries when you contact our Customer Service; your acceptance of cookies from our website).
Fulfillment of our legal obligations to cooperate with administrative, judicial, police authorities when required.
Our legitimate interest to (i) offer an enhanced user experience when you access and use this website and to operate it efficiently, (ii) verify the Customer’s identity and monitor fraudulent activity in order to preserve the security and integrity of our website; (iii) defend and address our rights in the event that a claim regarding our professional services may arise.

In the event that We send you electronic commercial communications, all of them will include an unsubscribe link, so you can object to receiving it at any time. We will try to process your unsubscription request immediately, but sometimes this process may take a number of days to become effective, during this period you may still receive our communications.

How Long Do We Keep Your Personal Data?

We will only keep your personal data for as long as is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which they are being processed and, beyond that, your personal data will be retained, and duly blocked, until the Company has complied with its legal obligations and has met with its business needs, objectives, and strategies. In this sense, your personal data will be kept, for example, for as long as is needed in order to address and defend our legitimate interests regarding any claims in connection with the Services offered; to finish the investigation of detected fraudulent or illicit activity; We will retain the Cookie data providing that you do not revoke its consent.

Once the necessary retention period has ended, your personal data will be securely deleted from our information systems.

Furthermore, if you have provided us with your consent to process your personal data for specific purposes, note that you can withdraw said consent at any time by contacting our Customer Service and/or by clicking the link to unsubscribe in case of electronic commercial communications.

Who Do We Share Personal Data With?

We may communicate your personal data to the following third parties that participate in the provision of the services offered on this Website and/or in the management of the User and/or Customer’s information, including, but not limited to:

(i) The U.S.consulate or embassy and/or the Government of Canada for the purpose of scheduling your consular appointment and submitting your B1B2 and/or Canada visa application (Please bear in mind that the B1B2 and the Canada visa are issued and stamped on your passport by the U.S. consulate or embassy and the Government of Canada respectively);
(ii) Payment service providers and/or other payment entities and/or partners that process the payments through this Website, refunds and, where appropriate, conduct payment fraud checks;
(iii) Public entities and/or administrative or judicial authorities, as well as the police, where required by applicable laws and regulations;
(iv) Law firms to respond to any claims relating to our Services and/or to protect our legitimate interests;
(v) Technology service providers who host our information systems and/or provide us with technology, tools, or support;
(vi) Providers who assist us in properly providing our Services.

The third parties mentioned above may have their headquarters outside the European Economic Area (EEA), therefore the communication of personal data to them may involve an international transfer of personal data. In this regard, We inform you that We will only transfer personal data to recipients located in countries that offer a level of personal data protection comparable to the laws and regulations of data protection of European countries or, failing that, We will apply the appropriate safeguards required by the current applicable law and regulations on the protection of personal data, in order to ensure the privacy and security of your personal data and that your individual rights and freedoms are guaranteed.

Likewise, We inform you that, where appropriate, We have subscribed the corresponding data processor contracts with our service providers, in compliance with the applicable data protection laws and regulations.

How Do We Protect Your Personal Data?

Your trust is very important to Us. For that reason, your personal data is stored confidentially and securely in our information systems. We have established the appropriate technical and organizational measures to safeguard and protect your personal data against illegal or unauthorized access, loss, or accidental destruction, damage, use, processing and illegal or unauthorized disclosure.

Likewise, We have taken reasonable precautions to guarantee that all our staff, as well as the suppliers or collaborators who have access to Customers’ personal data, have received adequate training regarding the processing of the personal data collected and that they comply with said data protection obligations.

Although We will do our best to guarantee the protection of your personal data transmitted through our website and/or contact channels, please bear in mind that you should also take precautions to keep your personal data safe e.g. you must not enter or confirm bank details by means of fake messages and/or websites.

What Rights Do You Have and How Can You Exercise Them?

You may exercise your rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, and objection, as well as the right to the portability of your personal data, with a written request addressed to Us via our Contact Form or by writing to us at info@conoceus.com. Please bear in mind to include in your request at least the following data: name and surname, passport number and contact email (the same provided in the B1B2 and/or Canada visa application form) and, if you still keep it, your B1B2 and/or Canada visa application code/reference number.

Please note that the exercise of these rights must be made by you personally, or by your legal representative by providing a document proving the representation (meaning your authorization to act on your behalf). If you are the parent or legal guardian of a minor B1B2 and/or Canada visa applicant you can exercise his/her data protection rights on his/her behalf.

You may modify the “privacy settings” of your web browser to set up the tracking cookies at any time. Also, you can install programs or add-ons to your browser, known as "Do Not Track" tools, which will allow you to choose the Cookies you want to allow. For further information, check our Cookie Policy.

As a general rule, We will respond to data protection rights requests within one (1) month. Occasionally, this period may be extended by two (2) further months where necessary, taking into account whether your request is particularly complex or if you have made several requests. In this case, We will notify you of this event and explain the reasons for the delay to you.

Finally, We inform you that, where you consider it appropriate, you have the right to lodge a complaint before the corresponding Supervisory Authority, especially if you consider that your data protection rights have not been adequately addressed.

We remain at your disposal for any doubts or questions you may have about the present Privacy Policy or the processing of your personal data. If so, please do not hesitate to contact us via our Contact Form or by writing to us at info@conoceus.com.