Privacy Statement

1. IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND WHO WE ARE

1.1. Data controller

This Privacy Statement, as amended or otherwise changed from time to time (the “Privacy Statement”), explains the manner in which Aster. (“Aster”, "we", "us", "our") collects, uses, maintains and discloses user information obtained through and in relation to the provision of the services (the “Services”) and/or through our website and any related applications (the “Site”). Aster is the Data Controller of your Personal Data.

1.2. As Data Controller subject to ADGM's Data Protection Regulations 2015 (as amended), we must ensure that any Personal Data we Process are:

• Processed fairly, lawfully and securely;

• for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes in accordance with the Data Subject's rights and not further Processed in a way incompatible with those purposes or rights; and that it is  

• adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purposes for which they were collected or further Processed;

• accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date; and

• kept in a form which permits identification of Data Subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the Personal Data were collected or for which they are further Processed.

1.3. We are also required to ensure that Personal Data which are inaccurate or incomplete, having regard to the purposes for which they were collected or for which they are further Processed, are erased or rectified.

1.4. ADGM Supervisory Authority

We are registered as a Data Controller with The Office of Data Protection for ADGM.  The Office of Data Protection is responsible for promoting data protection within ADGM, maintaining the register of Data Controllers, enforcing the obligations upon Data Controllers and upholding the rights of individuals. As part of ADGM's data protection regime, all ADGM registered entities that process Personal Data are required to register as a Data Controller. Additionally, businesses must not process an individual’s data without their knowledge or consent and they must provide individuals with access to any personal information they hold, on request.  

1.5. European Supervisory Authority

If you are located in Europe, you have the right to make a complaint at any time to a the Supervisory Authority established for the purposes of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the country in which you are based.   

If you are located in the United Kingdom you may also (or alternatively) make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) (the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk)).  

We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach a supervisory authority so please contact us in the first instance.

2. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT

On occasion, we may revise this Privacy Statement to reflect changes in law, our Personal Data collection and use practices, the features on the Site, or advances in technology. If material changes are made to this Privacy Statement, the changes will be prominently posted on the Site.  

Please note: This Privacy Statement does not cover any information that we may receive about you through channels external to Aster.

3. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

3.1. We collect and Process Personal Data as described below.

• “Personal Data” means data that allows someone to identify or contact you, including, for example, your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person;

• We may collect Personal Data from you, such as your first and last name, e-mail and mailing addresses, date of birth, government issued identification, tax ID, identity information, photographs, company name, and password when you use our Site.

• We may also collect other Personal Data provided by third party identity verification, market surveillance providers, and sanctions screening services, service providers, regulators or via social networking websites.

• If you fill out a survey or tell us where you are (e.g., by allowing your mobile device or computer to send us your location), we may store that information.

• Certain Services, such as two-factor authentication, may require our collection of your phone number. We may associate that phone number to your mobile device identification information.

3.2. If you provide us feedback or contact us via e-mail, we will collect your name and e-mail address, as well as any other content included in the e-mail, in order to send you a reply.

• We also collect other types of Personal Data that you provide to us voluntarily when seeking support and other Services, such as email, chat name and logs, information submitted via online form, video conferencing service information, other contact information, or other information provided to support services staff.

• We may collect referral URLs, your location, and blockchain analytics information related to blockchain addresses you provide. Some of the Personal Data used by the blockchain and crypto exchange services is public information and can be seen by others, including, your public address and the type and amount of digital assets transferred. Additionally, certain technologies, such as blockchain, are immutable meaning that information, including Personal Data, cannot be deleted from the ledger. If you have concerns about this use of your Personal Data, do not use the Services.

3.3. Some information is collected automatically by our servers:

• Our servers (which may be hosted by a third party service provider) collect information from you, including your browser type, operating system, Internet Protocol (“IP”) address (a number that is automatically assigned to your computer when you use the Internet, which may vary from session to session), domain name, and/or a date/time stamp for your visit.

• As is true of most websites, we gather certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information includes IP addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (“ISP”), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and clickstream data.

• Like many online services, we use cookies to collect information. “Cookies” are small pieces of information that a website sends to your computer’s hard drive while you are viewing the website.

• We retain information on your behalf, such as transactional data including records for trades, deposits, and withdraws for you and the counterparty to the transaction and other session data linked to your Account.

3.4. Some information is collected from third parties:

We may obtain Personal Data about you from other sources, including through third party services such as sanctions screening services and other organizations to supplement information provided by you. This supplemental information allows us to verify information that you have provided to us and to enhance our ability to provide you with information about our business, products, and Services.

3.5. If you fail to provide Personal Data:

Where we need to collect Personal Data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter with you. In this case, we may have to close your Account but we will notify you if this is the case at the time.

4. WHY ARE WE ALLOWED TO COLLECT AND PROCESS PERSONAL DATA?

4.1. You may give us personal information about yourself, or other individuals involved in or relating to your matter, to help us provide you with the Services you have asked us for.

4.2. Under Data Protection Law, we can only Process and use your Personal Data if we have a lawful basis for doing so. We will use Personal Data where on or more of the following lawful bases applies:

• Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which You are party or in order to take steps at the Your request prior to entering into a contract;

• Processing is necessary for compliance with any regulatory or legal obligation to which We are subject as Data Controller;

• Processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by Us as  Data Controller or by a Third Party to whom the Personal Data are disclosed, except where such interests are overridden by compelling legitimate interests of the Data Subject relating to the Data Subject's particular situation; or

• Where the Data Subject has given written consent to the Processing of that Personal Data;

4.3. A legitimate interest is when we have a business or commercial reason to use your personal information, so long as this is not overridden by your own rights and interests. We make sure we consider and balance any potential impact on you (both positive and negative) and your rights before we process your personal information for our legitimate interests. Personal Data revealing or concerning (directly or indirectly) racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, criminal record, trade‐union membership and health or sex life is Sensitive Personal Data.  We will only Process Sensitive Personal Data where:

• the Data Subject has given an additional written consent to the Processing of this kind of Personal Data;

• Processing is necessary for the purposes of carrying out the obligations and specific rights of the Data Controller;

• Processing relates to Personal Data which are manifestly made public by the Data Subject, or is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims;

• Processing is necessary for compliance with any regulatory or legal obligation to which the Data Controller is subject;

• Processing is necessary to uphold the legitimate interests of the Data Controller recognised in the international financial markets, provided the Processing is undertaken in accordance with applicable standards and except where such interests are overridden by compelling legitimate interests of the Data Subject relating to the Data Subject's particular situation; or

• Processing is necessary to comply with any regulatory, auditing, accounting, anti‐ money laundering or counter terrorist financing obligations that apply to a Data Controller or for the prevention or detection of any crime.  

5. HOW DO WE USE THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT?

5.1. We will only use your Personal Data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your Personal Data in the following circumstances:

• where we need to perform the contract we are about to enter into or have entered into with you;

• where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests; and/or

• where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.

• where You have provided your consent in accordance with the applicable Data Protection Law.

5.2. Please note that we may process your Personal Data without your knowledge or consent where this is required or permitted by law.

5.3. In general, Personal Data you submit to us is used either to respond to requests that you make, or to aid us in serving you better. We use your Personal Data in the following ways:

• facilitate the creation of and secure your Account on our network;

• identify you and perform identity verification through a service provider;

• provide improved administration of our Site and Services;

• improve the quality of experience when you interact with our Site and Services;

• send you a welcome e-mail to verify ownership of the e-mail address provided when your Account was created;

• send you administrative e-mail notifications, such as account activity, transaction processing, security or support and maintenance advisories;

• identify, prevent, and report potentially suspicious, fraudulent, or illegal activities;

• notify you about important changes to our Terms; and

• respond to your inquiries related to employment opportunities or other requests.

5.4. Data collected automatically will be used to administer or improve our Services and for other lawful purposes.

We use IP addresses to make our Site and Services more useful to you, and to perform identity verification.

5.5. We use information from log files to analyse trends, administer the Site, track users’ movements around the Site, gather demographic information about our user base as a whole, and better tailor our Services to our users’ needs. Except as noted in this Privacy Statement, we do not link this automatically-collected data to Personal Data.

5.6. We may use third parties to verify your identity by determining whether a selfie you take matches the photo in your form of identification. Facial recognition technology collects information from your photos that may include facial recognition or biometric data, and it shares this information with us. We use that information to verify your ID. We will store your biometric data for as long as is necessary to perform the Services and comply with applicable law.

5.7. We may use both session Cookies (which expire once you close your web browser) and persistent Cookies (which stay on your computer until you delete them) to provide you with a more personal and interactive experience on our Site. This type of information is collected to make the Site more useful to you and to tailor the experience with us to meet your special interests and needs.

5.8. We may create aggregated or de-identified records from Personal Data by excluding information (such as your name) that makes the data personally identifiable to you. We use this to analyse request and usage patterns so that we may enhance the content of our Services and improve Site navigation. We reserve the right to use and aggregated and other de-identified information for any purpose and disclose to third parties in our sole discretion.

5.9. Where European Union data protection laws apply, such as the General Data Protection Regulation, we will process your Personal Data for the purposes described above and for marketing (described below) where we have a lawful basis to do so, as set out at the start of this section 5. For example, for processing necessary to provide you with the Services, the lawful basis will generally be that it is necessary for the purposes of performing our contract with you. For marketing (described below), we may send you marketing based on it being in our ‘legitimate interests’ to do so (where you are a corporate customer) or based on consent where you are acting in an individual capacity. Other processing we do, such as that for product development and improvement, may not be ‘necessary’ to provide the Services but may still be necessary for our ‘legitimate interests’ of running a business and offering the Services.

6. MARKETING

6.1. We provide you with choices regarding certain Personal Data that we use, particularly around marketing and advertising. We have established the following Personal Data control mechanisms:

• Promotional offers from us: We may use your Personal Data to determine what may be of interest to you in accordance with applicable law. This is how we decide which products, Services, and offers may be relevant for you.

• Third-party marketing: In accordance with applicable law, we may obtain your express consent (opt-in) before we share your Personal Data with any company outside our group for that company's own marketing purposes.

• Opting out: You can ask us or third parties to stop sending you marketing messages at any time by following the opt-out links on any marketing message sent to you or by contacting us.

7. HOW DO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL DATA?

7.1. We disclose your Personal Data as described below and as described elsewhere in this Privacy Statement.

• It may be necessary to disclose your information to law enforcement agencies, regulators, government/public officials, or other relevant third parties to comply with any law, subpoenas, court orders, or government request, defend against claims, investigate or bring legal action against illegal or suspected illegal activities, enforce our Terms, or to protect the rights, safety, and security of us, our users, or the public.

• We may share Personal Data with our affiliated companies.

• We may allow third party advertising partners to set technologies and other tracking tools to collect information regarding your activities and your device (eg, your IP address, mobile identifiers, page(s) visited, location, time of day). We may also combine and share such data and other information with third party advertising partners. These advertising partners may use this information (and similar information collected from other websites) for purposes of delivering targeted advertisements to you when you visit third party websites within their networks.

• We may share your Personal Data with third party service providers to provide you with the Services that we offer you through our Site; to conduct quality assurance testing; to facilitate creation of accounts; to provide technical support; to verify your identity; and/or to provide other services to us. These third party service providers are required not to use your Personal Data other than to provide the services requested by us.

• We may provide Personal Data to business partners with whom we jointly offer products or services as allowed by law. In such cases, our business partner’s name will appear with ours.

• We may share some or all of your Personal Data with third parties (eg the purchaser or new owner) in connection with or during negotiation of any merger, financing, acquisition or dissolution transaction or proceeding involving sale, transfer, divestiture, or disclosure of all or a portion of our business or assets. In the event of an insolvency, bankruptcy, or receivership, Personal Data may also be transferred as a business asset. If another company acquires our company, business, or assets, that company will possess the Personal Data collected by us and will assume the rights and obligations regarding your Personal Data as described in this Privacy Statement.

• The Site may contain links to other third party websites which are regulated by their own privacy policies. We are not responsible for the privacy policies of these third party websites even if they were accessed using the links from our Site.

7.2. Other than as stated in this Privacy Statement, we do not disclose any of your Personal Data to third parties unless required to do so by law enforcement, court order, or in compliance with legal reporting obligations.

8. TRANSFERS OUTSIDE ADGM

8.1. We may share your Personal Data within our affiliated group of companies in various locations globally. If you are based in Europe, this will involve transferring your data outside the European Economic Area (EEA).

8.2. In addition, many of our external third parties are also based outside of the EEA so their processing of your Personal Data will involve a transfer of data outside the EEA. Whenever we transfer your Personal Data out of the EEA, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by putting in place appropriate safeguards, as required by applicable law.

8.3. Please contact us if you want further information on the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your Personal Data out of the EEA.

9. HOW CAN YOU UPDATE YOUR INFORMATION?

9.1. You can update your information by contacting support and making a request.

9.2. We will retain your information for as long as your Account has not been closed or as needed to provide you access to your Account. If you wish to close your Account, open a ticket in our Support Centre by contacting us at support@joinaster.com. We will retain and use your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our Terms.

10. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?

We retain Personal Data for as long we need it for the purposes set out in this Privacy Statement. This period will vary depending on the nature of the information and your interactions with our Site and our Services. For example, we keep a record of transactions on our site for up to two years, to protect us from legal claims, and we will retain information associated with your Account for up to two years after it has been closed unless there are other legal needs to retain it. If you unsubscribe from our marketing communications, we will keep a record of your email address to ensure we do not send you marketing emails in future.

11. HOW DO WE USE COOKIES, SOCIAL MEDIA, ADVERTISING AND OTHER TECHNOLOGIES?

11.1. We collect web browser Information in order to enhance your experience on our Site and track how the Services are being used. Cookies are small data files that are stored on your computer’s hard drive, and in addition to using cookies to provide you with a better user experience, we use cookies to identify and prevent fraudulent activity. The information collected can include, but is not limited to, your IP address, referral URLs, the type of device you use, your operating system, the type of browser you use, geographic location, and other session data. Cookies are not permanent and will expire after a short time period of inactivity. You may opt to deactivate your cookies, but it is important to note that you may not be able to access or use some features of our site. Please note that we are not responsible or can be held liable for any loss resulting from your decision or inability to use such features. For more information about the cookies we use, please see our Cookie Policy.

11.2. We may also use service providers such as Google Analytics and others to collect information regarding visits, and behaviour and visitor demographics on our Services. For more information about Google Analytics: www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/. You can opt out of Google’s collection and processing of data generated by your use of the Services by going to http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

11.3. Our Services may include public blockchain technology, publicly accessible blogs, forums, social media pages, and private messaging features. As such information will be public, the Personal Data provided by you may be viewed and used by third parties for any number of purposes. In addition, social media buttons such as Twitter (that might include widgets such as the “share this” button or other interactive mini-programs) may be on our site. These features may collect your IP address, which page you are visiting on our site, and may set a cookie to enable the feature to function properly. These social media features are either hosted by a third party or hosted directly on our site. Your interactions with these features apart from your visit to our site are governed by the privacy policy of the company providing it.

11.4. We may use third party APIs and software development kits (“SDKs”) as part of the functionality of our Services. APIs and SDKs may allow third parties including analytics and advertising partners to collect your Personal Data for various purposes including to provide analytics services and content that is more relevant to you. For more information about our use of APIs and SDKs, please contact us as set forth below.

11.5. Do Not Track ("DNT") is an optional browser setting that allows you to express your preferences regarding tracking by advertisers and other third-parties. At this time, we do not respond to DNT signals.

12. WHAT SECURITY PRECAUTIONS DO WE TAKE?

12.1. We take the protection of your Personal Data seriously. We use industry-standard data encryption technology and have implemented restrictions related to the storage of and the ability to access your Personal Data.  

12.2. Please note that no transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage can be guaranteed to be 100% secure.

13. YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS

13.1. Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your Personal Data which are set out in more detail below:

• Request access: This enables you to receive a copy of the Personal Data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it. This is also commonly known as a "data subject access request".

• Request correction: This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you corrected, though we may need to verify the accuracy of the new data you provide to us. If you need to add or change any information, you can log into your Account and make the change in your settings. If you need help, please contact us at support@joinaster.com and we will take care of it.

• Request deletion: This enables you to ask us to delete or remove Personal Data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your Personal Data where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing (see below), where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your Personal Data to comply with applicable law.
  Please note: your right of deletion would not apply for various reasons including if we need to retain your Personal Data in order to comply with a legal obligation or to establish or defend a legal claim. Where we are unable to comply with your request of deletion, we will notify you at the time of your request.

• Object to processing: You have the right to object to the processing of your Personal Data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms.

• You also have the right to object where we are processing your Personal Data for direct marketing purposes.

• In some cases, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which override your rights and freedoms.

• Request restriction of processing: This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your Personal Data in the following scenarios:
  a) if you want us to establish the data's accuracy;
  b) where our use of the data is unlawful but you do not want us to delete it;
  c) where you need us to hold the data even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; or
  d) you have objected to our use of your data but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.

• Request to transfer: If you ask us, we will provide you or a third party you have chosen, your Personal Data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.

• Note that this right only applies to automated information which you initially provided consent for us to use or where we used the information to perform a contract with you.

• Withdrawal of consent: This applies where we are relying on consent to process your Personal Data. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent.
  If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.

13.2. If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us

13.3. You will not have to pay a fee to access your Personal Data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.

14. WHAT WE MAY NEED FROM YOU

We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your rights to access your Personal Data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that Personal Data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.

15. TIME LIMIT TO RESPOND

We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it may take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.

16. CHILDREN'S PRIVACY

Unfortunately, if you are under 18, you cannot use our Services. We do not knowingly solicit or collect information from anyone under 18. If we become aware that a person under the age of 18 has provided us with personal information, we will delete it immediately.