Privacy Policy

We respect your privacy. We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of our website visitors. www.gostels.com/az/ website administration (hereinafter – «Website») is obliged to maintain your privacy on the Internet. Please read this document carefully as it sets out our «Privacy Policy» which informs you what we do with your Personal Data, whether we are providing you with news alerts or using your Personal Data as part of the research that we conduct for or statistical purposes. We pay great attention to securing the Data you provided to us. Our Privacy Policy is based on the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan of May 11, 2010, No. 998-IIIQ «On Personal Data» (Law No. 998-IIIQ) (may for certain types of Personal Data processing, be subject to laws from other jurisdictions), and similar laws. The purposes, for which we collect your Personal Data are: improvement of our service, communication with visitors to this site, newsletters, presenting the information requested by the user, and for other actions listed below.

This Privacy Policy applies to the Personal Data of visitors anywhere in the world who access or use this Website.

The company responsible for your Personal Data is: ALFABET LABS FZCO, Unit №: O5-PF-CWC126, Detached Retail O5, Plot No: Level No 1, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (hereinafter – «us», «the Company»).

Personal Data storage and processing

We collect and process your Personal Data with your consent, except where processing without consent is expressly permitted by the Law No. 998-IIIQ or other applicable legislation. The purposes, categories of Personal Data, operations and retention periods are described in this Privacy Policy. Consent to newsletters is separate from consent to processing a business enquiry. Depending on the relevant circumstances and the laws and obligations that apply in your location, we may collect some or all of the information below:

• Name and surname;
• Contact details (such as your e-mail address or mobile number);
• Category to which you belong (consumer, supplier / company, or other);
• Date of birth;
• Additional information that you provide us voluntarily;
• Technical Data (e.g. the IP address, device information, log information, location information).

We do not knowingly collect information from visitors to this Website under the age of eighteen. If we become aware that a minor has provided information, it will be immediately deleted from ours databases.

How do we collect your Personal Data?

We collect your Personal Data largely in three ways:

1) Personal Data that you provide us with. You can share your Personal Data with us in multiple ways, such as:

• By proactively contacting us, usually by phone, e-mail, through our contact form or through social media; and / or
• Because we contact you, either by phone or by e-mail.
• By collecting information through the intervention of the (your) our representative.

We usually receive Personal Data such as your contact details, your name, the country of residence, your date of birth, etc.

2) Personal Data that we obtain from other sources. We may use other sources to obtain additional information about you, e.g. from third parties. An example of this is the information we via the Google Analytics tool. For example, Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on can be found here. Usually, we so receive Personal Data such as information via a unique identifier (e.g. information about your activity on the Website).

3) Personal Data that we collect automatically. When you visit our Website, we collect technical Data by means of cookies such as the IP address your computer uses to connect to the internet, the type and version of your browser, your time zone setting, types and version of browser plugins, operating system and platform, including the type of mobile device you use, a unique device identifier, traffic Data, weblogs and other communication Data, and the resources that you access, and other technical information is saved in the database when you visit Website.

Purposes of processing Personal Data

We process the information submitted through our contact form, including your name, contact details, business category and company name, with your consent to respond to your enquiry and discuss potential cooperation. We process support requests with your consent to investigate and respond to the issue you report. We process analytics data and newsletter subscriptions with your separate consent. Where technical data needed to operate or secure the Website constitute Personal Data, we obtain consent unless processing without consent is expressly permitted by applicable legislation.

Consent for an enquiry or support request remains valid until the request and related follow-up have been completed or you withdraw it, whichever occurs first. Consent to newsletters remains valid until withdrawal or discontinuation of the newsletter. Consent to cookies remains valid for the period stated in the cookie settings, subject to the maximum retention periods stated above, or until withdrawal, whichever occurs first.

To withdrawconsent, contact support@gostels.com; for newsletters and cookies, you may also use the mechanisms described below. Withdrawal may prevent us from continuing to handle your enquiry or providing the requested functionality or subscription. Any continued processing must have a separate basis permitted by applicable legislation.

Providing Personal Data through our forms is voluntary. However, without the information marked as required, we may be unable to respond to your enquiry or provide the requested subscription.

Principles for processing Personal Data

• The processing of Personal Data is carried out on a legal and fair basis.
• The processing of Personal Data is limited to the achievement of specific, pre-defined and legitimate purposes. Processing of Personal Data that is incompatible with the purposes of collecting Personal Data is not permitted.
• It is not allowed to combine databases containing Personal Data, the processing of which is carried out for purposes that are incompatible with each other.
• Only Personal Data that meets the purposes of their processing are subject to processing
• The content and volume of Personal Data processed correspond to the stated purposes of processing. Redundancy of the processed Personal Data in relation to the stated purposes of their processing is not allowed.
• When processing Personal Data, the accuracy of Personal Data, their sufficiency, and, where necessary, relevance in relation to the purposes of processing Personal Data are ensured. The operator takes the necessary measures and/or ensures that they are taken to delete or clarify incomplete or inaccurate data.
• The storage of Personal Data is carried out in a form that makes it possible to identify the subject of Personal Data, no longer than required by the purposes of processing Personal Data, unless the period for storing Personal Data is established by Law No. 998-IIIQ, an agreement to which the subject of Personal Data is a party, beneficiary or guarantor. The processed Personal Data is destroyed or anonymized upon achievement of the processing goals or in the event of the loss of the need to achieve these goals, unless otherwise provided by Law No. 998-IIIQ.

The actions performed by the Company with received Personal Data

The Company collects, records, systematizes, accumulates, stores, refines (updates, changes), extracts, uses, transfers (distribute, provide, access), depersonalizes, blocks, deletes and destroys Personal Data.

The Company carries out automated processing of Personal Data with or without receiving and/or transmitting the received information via information and telecommunication networks.

The Company and other persons who have access to Personal Data are obliged not to disclose to third parties or distribute Personal Data without the consent of the subject of Personal Data, unless otherwise provided by Law No. 998-IIIQ.

The Company's Sharing of Personal Data

We will share your Personal Data primarily to ensure we provide you with the most relevant and up to date news, content and events, or to ensure we can respond to any query quickly and expeditiously. The Company may share Personal Data with affiliated companies, service providers who act on our behalf, or others at your direction. The disclosure scenarios below apply only with your consent or where disclosure without consent is expressly permitted by applicable legislation. Authorised service providers process Personal Data under our instructions and contractual obligations in accordance with applicable legislation.

• Service Providers. The Company may engage third parties to act as our service providers and perform certain tasks on our behalf, such as processing or storing Data, including Personal Data, in connection with your use of our services and delivering products to customers (including external consultants, investor relations service providers and professional advisers such as lawyers, auditors and accountants, technical support functions and IT consultants carrying out testing and development workon our business technology systems). The Company service providers are obligated to handle Personal Data consistent with this Privacy Policy and according to our instructions.
• Tax, audit, or other authorities, when we believe that the law or other regulation requires us to share this Data (for example, because of a request by a tax authority or in connection with any anticipated litigation) or in order to help prevent fraud or to enforce or protect the rights and properties of the Company or its subsidiaries; or protect the personal safety of the Company employees, third party agents or members of the public.
• • If the Company entity merges with or is acquired by another business or company in the future, we may share your Personal Data with the new owners of the business or company (and provide you with notice of this disclosure); and
• Circumstances may arise where, whether for strategic or other business reasons, the Company decides to sell, buy, merge or otherwise reorganise businesses in some countries. Such a transaction may involve the disclosure of your personal information to prospective or actual purchasers, or the receipt of it from sellers. It is the Company’s practice to seek appropriate protection for personal information in these types of transactions.

We do not share, rent or trade your information with third parties for marketing or promotional purposes.

We may also disclose information about you where there is a lawful basis for doing so, if we determine that disclosure is reasonably necessary to enforce our terms and conditions or to protect our operations or users, or in the event of a reorganization, merger, or sale.

Data storage, alteration, and removal

The user, who has provided to the Company with their Personal Data, has the right for their alteration and removal, as well as the right to recall the agreement to Data processing. Time, during which your Personal Data will be stored is: time the Personal Data is used that is necessary for the Website’s main activity. We will not keep your Personal Data for longer than is necessary for the purposes for which we collect it unless we believe that the law or other regulation requires us to preserve it (for example, because of a request by a tax authority or in connection with any anticipated litigation). After finishing with the processing of your Personal Data, the Website’s administration will permanently delete it. To access your Personal Data, you can contact the administration on: support@gostels.com. We disclose Personal Data on the legal bases and for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. Where required by the Law No. 998-IIIQ, we notify recipients to whom we have disclosed your Personal Data of its rectification, update, completion, termination of processing, erasure or destruction, subject to the exceptions provided by the Law No. 998-IIIQ.

Processing of visiting technical Data

Each time you use our Website, we may and often will automatically record your IP address, time of visit, browser settings, operational system, including the type of mobile device you use, a unique device identifier (for example, mobile network information, your mobile operating system, the type of mobile browser you use, device token, device type, time zone setting), traffic Data, weblogs and other communication Data, and the resources that you access, and other technical information is saved in the database when you visit Website. This Data is necessary for the correct display of the Website’s content and help us to better understand user behavior. Technical Data may constitute Personal Data where it relates to an identified or identifiable individual, including where identification is possible by combining it with other information.

Children’s personal information

If you are a parent or a legal guardian of an underage child, and you know that the child has provided us with their personal information, please contact us on: support@gostels.com. It is forbidden to enter Personal Data of underage users.

Marketing

We use your e-mail address to send newsletters and information about our products only if you subscribe and consent to receiving these communications. Submitting a business enquiry does not subscribe you to marketing communications.

You may withdraw your consent at any time, free of charge, by clicking the unsubscribe link in any marketing e-mail or by contacting us at support@gostels.com.‍We will stop processing your Personal Data for direct marketing as soon as reasonably possible and no later than 7 (seven) working days after receiving your request.

We retain your subscription data until you withdraw your consent or we discontinue the newsletter, whichever occurs first. We retain a record of the date and fact of your consent and its withdrawal throughout the direct marketing activity and for 1 (one) year after it ends, as required by the Law No. 3144.

Cookies processing

We use cookie files for the correct display of the Website’s content and for the convenience of browsing Website. They are small files, that are stored on your device. They help the Website to remember information about you, such as in which language you use the Website and which pages have you already opened. This information will be useful in the next visit. Thanks to cookie files, the Website’s browsing becomes much more convenient. You can set up cookies reception and blocking in your browser yourself. Inability to receive cookie files may limit the functionality of the Website.

Alternatively, you may wish to visit an independent source of information, www.aboutcookies.org, which contains comprehensive information on how to alter settings or delete Cookies from your computer as well as more general information about Cookies. For information on how to do this on the browser of your mobile phone, you will need to refer to your handset manual or network operator for advice.

What are the different types of cookies?

• Strictly Necessary.

These cookies are essential in order to enable you to move around the Website and use its features, such as accessing secure areas of the Website. They allow you to navigate back and forth between pages without losing your previous actions from the same session. Where these cookies involve Personal Data, we obtain your consent unless processing without consent is expressly permitted by applicable legislation.

• Functional.

Functional cookies remember your preferences, such as your selected language or region. Where these cookies are not strictly necessary and involve the processing of Personal Data, we use them only with your prior consent.

• Performance.

Performance and analytics cookies help us understand how visitors use the Website and improve its performance. These cookies may involve the processing of Personal Data, including online identifiers and information about your activity on the Website. Where they involve Personal Data, we use them only with your prior consent.

• Persistent cookies.

These cookies remain on your device when you close your Internet browser, and they are reactivated each time you visit the Website that originally generated this type of cookie.

• Session cookies.

These cookies are not permanently stored on your device. They are used to enhance your browsing experience on a Website, for example by enabling you to switch between websites without needing to log back in. Closing your Internet browser deletes all session cookies from your computer.

• Flash cookies.

These cookies are installed by websites that feature multimedia content; this requires Adobe Flash to be displayed. These speeds up the rate at which you can download content and save information.

Most browsers accept and maintain Cookies by default. Check the «Help» or «Setting» menu of your browser to learn how to change your Cookie preferences. You can choose to alter Cookies settings related to the use of our Website, but this may limit your ability to access certain areas of the Website.

Links to other websites

Our Website may contain links to other websites, which are not under our control. We are not responsible for the content of these websites. We recommend you familiarize yourself with the privacy policy of every website that you visit, if such policy exists.

If you decide to access the linked third-party websites, you do so at your own risk. We do not accept liability, and shall not be liable to you for any loss or damage arising from or as a result of your acting upon the contents of another website to which you may link from the Website.

Changes to the Privacy Policy

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time and without notice. If we make significant changes in the way we treat your Personal Data, or to the Privacy Policy, we will endeavour to provide you notice through the Website or by some other means, such as e-mail. Changes to this Privacy Policy do not replace any consent required by the Law No. 998-IIIQ. We obtain fresh consent before processing for a new purpose where required. We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Policy for the latest information on our privacy practices.

If your Personal Data, and more specifically, your contact information was entered incorrectly, we will not be able to contact you.

Security Precautions

We care about protecting your information. That's why we put in place appropriate measures that are designed to prevent unauthorised access to, and misuse of, your Personal Data.

We are committed to taking all reasonable and appropriate steps to protect the personal information that we hold from misuse, loss, or unauthorised access. We do this by having in place a range of appropriate technical and organisational measures, including encryption measures and disaster recovery plans.

Unfortunately, there is always risk involved in sending information through any channel over the internet. You send information over the internet entirely at your own risk. Although we will do our best to protect your Personal Data, we cannot guarantee the security of your Data transmitted over the internet and we do not warrant the security of any information, including Personal Data, which you transmit to us over the internet.

If you suspect any misuse or loss of or unauthorised access to your personal information please let us know immediately. Please raise your concern by contacting us using the Contact us section of the Website, in the first instance, and we will investigate the matter and update you as soon as possible on next steps.

Your rights

You have several rights regarding the Data that we process about you. These are explained in more detail below.

• Right to information andaccess.

You may request confirmation of whether we process your Personal Data and information about the data, their sources, processing purposes and legal grounds, processing methods and periods, recipients and possible legal consequences of processing. You may access your Personal Data free of charge.

We respond to requests submitted in accordance with the Law No. 998-IIIQ within 7 (seven) working days of receipt. Where it is necessary to contact a third party to fulfil your request, this period may be extended by a further 7 (seven) working days. If we refuse a request on grounds permitted by law, we provide a reasoned response within 5 (five)working days of receipt.

Formal requests may be submitted in writing on paper with an identity document or electronically with an enhanced electronic signature, as provided by Article 7.5 of the Law No. 998-IIIQ. Please contact support@gostels.com for assistance with submitting a request.

• Right to rectification, blocking and destruction.

You may request the correction of your Personal Data, the prohibition of their collection and processing, or their destruction, subject to the exceptions established by law. Where relevant, you may also request that your Personal Data be archived in accordance with applicable legislation. We may request supporting documents where necessary to act on your request. 

We handle these requests within the periods described above, subject to any requirement to actimmediately. Where we take measures concerning your Personal Data following your request, we notify third parties to whom those data were previously transferred within 3 (three) working days.

• Right to withdraw consent.

You may withdraw your consent by contacting support@gostels.com or using the newsletter unsubscribe or cookie settings mechanisms, as applicable.

You may also object in writing to the collection and processing of your Personal Data without having to give reasons. Upon receiving such an objection, we immediately stop the relevant collection and processing, except where it is mandatory under applicable legislation.

You may withdraw your consent to the disclosure of your Personal Data in writing. Once we become aware of that withdrawal, we immediately stop the relevant disclosure, unless otherwise permitted by law. The newsletter unsubscribe mechanism does not require a formally signed request to stop marketing communications.

• Right to file a complaint.

If you believe that our processing of your Personal Data violates the Law No. 998-IIIQ or your rights, you may lodge a complaint with the Electronic Security Service under the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of the Republic of Azerbaijan and/or apply to a competent court. Complaints concerning personal data may be submitted through https://cert.az/report_personalinfo. You do not have to contact us before exercising these rights.

Feedback and final clauses

You can contact the Website administration regarding any questions related to Privacy Policy on: www.gostels.com/az/privacy, or by filling a contact form specified in a corresponding section of this Website. This Privacy Policy provides information about our processing and does not itself constitute your consent. You may decline optional processing; if you decline processing necessary for a particular request, we may be unable to fulfil that request.