Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

PearlHQ (trading name; business registration in progress as Pearl Group) operates the website and platform at pearlhq.co. We are an affiliate marketing platform focused on the African continent. For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, "we", "us", or "our" refers to PearlHQ.

As we process data from users located in the European Union, we are subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For users in South Africa, we comply with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).

Contact: bruna@pearlhq.co

2. What Data We Collect

2.1 Data You Provide Directly

• Account registration details: name, email address, password
• Profile information: business name, website URL, payment details
• Communications: messages you send us via email or contact forms
• Newsletter or waitlist sign-ups: your email address and marketing preferences

2.2 Data We Collect Automatically

• Usage data: pages visited, time spent, clicks, referral sources
• Device and browser information: IP address, browser type, operating system
• Cookie identifiers and session tokens (see Section 5 on Cookies)
• Affiliate tracking data: click IDs, conversion events, referral chains

2.3 Payment Data

We use third-party payment processors to handle financial transactions. We do not store full payment card details on our systems. Payment processors handle this data under their own privacy policies and security standards (e.g. PCI-DSS compliance).

3. How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

• To create and manage your account on the PearlHQ platform
• To process affiliate transactions and calculate commission payments
• To send transactional communications (account confirmations, payment notifications)
• To send marketing emails, where you have given your consent
• To improve our platform through analytics and usage data
• To detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and misuse of our services
• To comply with legal obligations

Our legal bases for processing under GDPR are:

• Contract: processing necessary to deliver our services to you
• Legitimate interests: fraud prevention, platform security, and service improvement
• Consent: marketing communications and non-essential cookies
• Legal obligation: compliance with applicable laws

4. How We Share Your Data

We do not sell your personal data. We may share it with:

• Payment processors: to facilitate commission payouts and transactions
• Analytics providers: such as Google Analytics or Mixpanel, for platform analytics (data may be anonymised or pseudonymised)
• Cloud infrastructure providers: for hosting and data storage
• Legal authorities: where required by law, court order, or to protect our rights

Any third parties we engage are bound by data processing agreements and are required to handle your data securely and lawfully.

5. Cookies & Tracking

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies on our website. These include:

• Essential cookies: required for the platform to function (login sessions, security tokens)
• Analytics cookies: to understand how users interact with our site (e.g. Google Analytics, Mixpanel)
• Affiliate tracking cookies: to attribute referrals and conversions to the correct affiliate

You will be presented with a cookie consent banner when you first visit our site. Non-essential cookies are only placed with your explicit consent. You can withdraw your consent at any time through our cookie settings.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide our services. Specifically:

• Account data: retained for the duration of your account and up to 3 years after closure
• Transaction records: retained for 7 years for financial and legal compliance
• Analytics data: retained for up to 26 months (Google Analytics default)
• Marketing data: retained until you withdraw consent or unsubscribe

7. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of access: to request a copy of the data we hold about you
• Right to rectification: to correct inaccurate or incomplete data
• Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten"): to request deletion of your data
• Right to restrict processing: to limit how we use your data
• Right to data portability: to receive your data in a machine-readable format
• Right to object: to object to processing based on legitimate interests
• Right to withdraw consent: at any time, for consent-based processing

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at bruna@pearlhq.co. We will respond within 30 days.

8. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These include encryption in transit (HTTPS/TLS), access controls, and regular security reviews.

No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. If you believe your account has been compromised, contact us immediately.

9. International Data Transfers

As a platform operating across Africa and Europe, your data may be transferred to and processed in countries outside your own. Where data is transferred outside the EEA, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this document and, where changes are significant, notify you by email or via a prominent notice on our website.

11. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, contact us at:

Email: bruna@pearlhq.co

Trading name: PearlHQ (Pearl Group — registration in progress)

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. In Portugal, this is the Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados (CNPD) at cnpd.pt.