Acceptable use policy

This acceptable use policy (“Policy”) sets forth the general guidelines and acceptable and prohibited uses of the hoc.ae website (“Website” or “Service”) and any of its related products and services (collectively, “Services”). This Policy is a legally binding agreement between you (“User”, “you” or “your”) and House of Content DMCC (doing business as “HOC”, “we”, “us” or “our”). If you are entering into this agreement on behalf of a business or other legal entity, you represent that you have the authority to bind such entity to this agreement, in which case the terms “User”, “you” or “your” shall refer to such entity. If you do not have such authority, or if you do not agree with the terms of this agreement, you must not accept this agreement and may not access and use the Website and Services. By accessing and using the Website and Services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by the terms of this Agreement. You acknowledge that this Agreement is a contract between you and HOC, even though it is electronic and is not physically signed by you, and it governs your use of the Website and Services.

Prohibited activities and uses

You may not use the Website and Services to engage in activity that is illegal under applicable law, that is harmful to others, or that would subject us to liability, including, without limitation, in connection with any of the following, each of which is prohibited under this Policy:

• Disclosing sensitive personal information about others.
• Collecting, or attempting to collect, personal information about third parties without their knowledge or consent.
• Threatening harm to persons or property or otherwise harassing behavior.
• Infringing the intellectual property or other proprietary rights of others.
• Facilitating, aiding, or encouraging any of the above activities through the Website and Services.

System abuse

Any User in violation of the Website and Services security is subject to criminal and civil liability, as well as immediate account termination. Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• Use or distribution of tools designed for compromising security of the Website and Services.
• Intentionally or negligently transmitting files containing a computer virus or corrupted data.
• Accessing another network without permission, including to probe or scan for vulnerabilities or breach security or authentication measures.
• Unauthorized scanning or monitoring of data on any network or system without proper authorization of the owner of the system or network.

Service resources

You may not consume excessive amounts of the resources of the Website and Services or use the Website and Services in any way which results in performance issues or which interrupts the Services for other Users. Prohibited activities that contribute to excessive use, include without limitation:

• Deliberate attempts to overload the Website and Services and broadcast attacks (i.e. denial of service attacks).
• Engaging in any other activities that degrade the usability and performance of the Website and Services.

Security

You take full responsibility for maintaining reasonable security precautions for your account. You are responsible for protecting and updating any login account provided to you for the Website and Services. You must protect the confidentiality of your login details, and you should change your password periodically.

Enforcement

We reserve our right to be the sole arbiter in determining the seriousness of each infringement and to immediately take corrective actions, including but not limited to:

• Suspending or terminating your Service with or without notice upon any violation of this Policy. Any violations may also result in the immediate suspension or termination of your account.
• Disabling or removing any content which is prohibited by this Policy, including to prevent harm to others or to us or the Website and Services, as determined by us in our sole discretion.
• Reporting violations to law enforcement as determined by us in our sole discretion.
• A failure to respond to an email from our abuse team within 2 days, or as otherwise specified in the communication to you, may result in the suspension or termination of your account.

Suspended and terminated User accounts due to violations will not be re-activated.

Nothing contained in this Policy shall be construed to limit our actions or remedies in any way with respect to any of the prohibited activities. In addition, we reserve at all times all rights and remedies available to us with respect to such activities at law or in equity.

Reporting violations

If you have discovered and would like to report a violation of this Policy, please contact us immediately. We will investigate the situation and provide you with full assistance.

Changes and amendments

We reserve the right to modify this Policy or its terms related to the Website and Services at any time at our discretion. When we do, we will revise the updated date at the bottom of this page. We may also provide notice to you in other ways at our discretion, such as through the contact information you have provided.

An updated version of this Policy will be effective immediately upon the posting of the revised Policy unless otherwise specified. Your continued use of the Website and Services after the effective date of the revised Policy (or such other act specified at that time) will constitute your consent to those changes.

Payment Terms

• “United Arab of Emirates is our country of domicile” and stipulate that the governing law is the local law.
• We accept payments in AED only via Visa and Master Card.
• We will not trade with or provide any services to OFAC and sanctioned countries.
• Customer using the website who are Minor /under the age of 18 shall not register as a User of the website and shall not transact on or use the website.
• Cardholder must retain a copy of transaction records and Merchant policies and rules.
• User is responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of his account.

Acceptance of this policy

You acknowledge that you have read this Policy and agree to all its terms and conditions. By accessing and using the Website and Services you agree to be bound by this Policy. If you do not agree to abide by the terms of this Policy, you are not authorized to access or use the Website and Services. This acceptable use policy was created with the help of WebsitePolicies.

Contacting us

If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints regarding this Policy, we encourage you to contact us using the details below:

https://hoc.ae/index.php/en/contact-us

 

 

This document was last updated on May 20, 2023

Privacy policy

We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting it through our compliance with this privacy policy (“Policy”). This Policy describes the types of information we may collect from you or that you may provide (“Personal Information”) on the hoc.ae website (“Website” or “Service”) and any of its related products and services (collectively, “Services”), and our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting, and disclosing that Personal Information. It also describes the choices available to you regarding our use of your Personal Information and how you can access and update it.

This Policy is a legally binding agreement between you (“User”, “you” or “your”) and House of Content (doing business as “HOC”, “we”, “us” or “our”). If you are entering into this agreement on behalf of a business or other legal entity, you represent that you have the authority to bind such entity to this agreement, in which case the terms “User”, “you” or “your” shall refer to such entity. If you do not have such authority, or if you do not agree with the terms of this agreement, you must not accept this agreement and may not access and use the Website and Services. By accessing and using the Website and Services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by the terms of this Policy. This Policy does not apply to the practices of companies that we do not own or control, or to individuals that we do not employ or manage.

Collection of personal information

You can access and use the Website and Services without telling us who you are or revealing any information by which someone could identify you as a specific, identifiable individual. If, however, you wish to use some of the features offered on the Website, you may be asked to provide certain Personal Information (for example, your name and e-mail address).

We receive and store any information you knowingly provide to us when you create an account, or fill any forms on the Website. When required, this information may include the following:

• Account details (such as user name, unique user ID, password, etc)
• Contact information (such as email address, phone number, etc)
• Basic personal information (such as name, country of residence, etc)

You can choose not to provide us with your Personal Information, but then you may not be able to take advantage of some of the features on the Website. Users who are uncertain about what information is mandatory are welcome to contact us.

Privacy of children

We do not knowingly collect any Personal Information from children under the age of 18. If you are under the age of 18, please do not submit any Personal Information through the Website and Services. If you have reason to believe that a child under the age of 18 has provided Personal Information to us through the Website and Services, please contact us to request that we delete that child’s Personal Information from our Services.

We encourage parents and legal guardians to monitor their children’s Internet usage and to help enforce this Policy by instructing their children never to provide Personal Information through the Website and Services without their permission. We also ask that all parents and legal guardians overseeing the care of children take the necessary precautions to ensure that their children are instructed to never give out Personal Information when online without their permission.

Use and processing of collected information

We act as a data controller and a data processor when handling Personal Information, unless we have entered into a data processing agreement with you in which case you would be the data controller and we would be the data processor.

Our role may also differ depending on the specific situation involving Personal Information. We act in the capacity of a data controller when we ask you to submit your Personal Information that is necessary to ensure your access and use of the Website and Services. In such instances, we are a data controller because we determine the purposes and means of the processing of Personal Information.

We act in the capacity of a data processor in situations when you submit Personal Information through the Website and Services. We do not own, control, or make decisions about the submitted Personal Information, and such Personal Information is processed only in accordance with your instructions. In such instances, the User providing Personal Information acts as a data controller.

In order to make the Website and Services available to you, or to meet a legal obligation, we may need to collect and use certain Personal Information. If you do not provide the information that we request, we may not be able to provide you with the requested products or services. Any of the information we collect from you may be used for the following purposes:

• Create and manage user accounts
• Respond to inquiries and offer support
• Request user feedback
• Improve user experience
• Enforce terms and conditions and policies
• Protect from abuse and malicious users
• Run and operate the Website and Services

Processing your Personal Information depends on how you interact with the Website and Services, where you are located in the world and if one of the following applies: (i) you have given your consent for one or more specific purposes; (ii) provision of information is necessary for the performance of an agreement with you and/or for any pre-contractual obligations thereof; (iii) processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which you are subject; (iv) processing is related to a task that is carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in us; (v) processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us or by a third party.

Note that under some legislations we may be allowed to process information until you object to such processing by opting out, without having to rely on consent or any other of the legal bases. In any case, we will be happy to clarify the specific legal basis that applies to the processing, and in particular whether the provision of Personal Information is a statutory or contractual requirement, or a requirement necessary to enter into a contract.

Managing information

You are able to delete certain Personal Information we have about you. The Personal Information you can delete may change as the Website and Services change. When you delete Personal Information, however, we may maintain a copy of the unrevised Personal Information in our records for the duration necessary to comply with our obligations to our affiliates and partners, and for the purposes described below. If you would like to delete your Personal Information or permanently delete your account, you can do so on the settings page of your account on the Website.

Disclosure of information

Depending on the requested Services or as necessary to complete any transaction or provide any Service you have requested, we may share your information with our affiliates, contracted companies, and service providers (collectively, “Service Providers”) we rely upon to assist in the operation of the Website and Services available to you and whose privacy policies are consistent with ours or who agree to abide by our policies with respect to Personal Information. We will not share any information with unaffiliated third parties.

Service Providers are not authorized to use or disclose your information except as necessary to perform services on our behalf or comply with legal requirements. Service Providers are given the information they need only in order to perform their designated functions, and we do not authorize them to use or disclose any of the provided information for their own marketing or other purposes. We will share and disclose your information only with the following categories of Service Providers:

 

We may also disclose any Personal Information we collect, use or receive if required or permitted by law, such as to comply with a subpoena or similar legal process, and when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request.

Retention of information

We will retain and use your Personal Information for the period necessary to comply with our legal obligations, as long as your user account remains active, until the purchase order or Services are fulfilled, to enforce our agreements, resolve disputes, and unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

We may use any aggregated data derived from or incorporating your Personal Information after you update or delete it, but not in a manner that would identify you personally. Once the retention period expires, Personal Information shall be deleted. Therefore, the right to access, the right to erasure, the right to rectification, and the right to data portability cannot be enforced after the expiration of the retention period.

Cookies

Our Website and Services use “cookies” to help personalize your online experience. A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you.

We may use cookies to collect, store, and track information for security and personalization, and for statistical purposes. Please note that you have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies by default, but you can modify your browser settings to decline cookies if you prefer.

Data analytics

Our Website and Services may use third-party analytics tools that use cookies, web beacons, or other similar information-gathering technologies to collect standard internet activity and usage information. The information gathered is used to compile statistical reports on User activity such as how often Users visit our Website and Services, what pages they visit and for how long, etc. We use the information obtained from these analytics tools to monitor the performance and improve our Website and Services. We do not use third-party analytics tools to track or to collect any personally identifiable information of our Users and we will not associate any information gathered from the statistical reports with any individual User.

Do Not Track signals

Some browsers incorporate a Do Not Track feature that signals to websites you visit that you do not want to have your online activity tracked. Tracking is not the same as using or collecting information in connection with a website. For these purposes, tracking refers to collecting personally identifiable information from consumers who use or visit a website or online service as they move across different websites over time. The Website and Services do not track its visitors over time and across third-party websites. However, some third-party websites may keep track of your browsing activities when they serve you content, which enables them to tailor what they present to you. For a description of Do Not Track protocols for browsers and mobile devices or to learn more about the choices available to you, visit internetcookies.com

Social media features

Our Website and Services may include social media features, such as the Facebook and Twitter buttons, Share This buttons, etc (collectively, “Social Media Features”). These Social Media Features may collect your IP address, what page you are visiting on our Website and Services, and may set a cookie to enable Social Media Features to function properly. Social Media Features are hosted either by their respective providers or directly on our Website and Services. Your interactions with these Social Media Features are governed by the privacy policy of their respective providers.

Email marketing

We offer electronic newsletters to which you may voluntarily subscribe at any time. We are committed to keeping your e-mail address confidential and will not disclose your email address to any third parties except as allowed in the information use and processing section. We will maintain the information sent via e-mail in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

In compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act, all e-mails sent from us will clearly state who the e-mail is from and provide clear information on how to contact the sender. You may choose to stop receiving our newsletter or marketing emails by following the unsubscribe instructions included in these emails or by contacting us. However, you will continue to receive essential transactional emails.

Links to other resources

The Website and Services contain links to other resources that are not owned or controlled by us. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other resources or third parties. We encourage you to be aware when you leave the Website and Services and to read the privacy statements of each and every resource that may collect Personal Information.

Information security

We secure information you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secure environment, protected from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. We maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards in an effort to protect against unauthorized access, use, modification, and disclosure of Personal Information in our control and custody. However, no data transmission over the Internet or wireless network can be guaranteed.

Therefore, while we strive to protect your Personal Information, you acknowledge that (i) there are security and privacy limitations of the Internet which are beyond our control; (ii) the security, integrity, and privacy of any and all information and data exchanged between you and the Website and Services cannot be guaranteed; and (iii) any such information and data may be viewed or tampered with in transit by a third party, despite best efforts.

As the security of Personal Information depends in part on the security of the device you use to communicate with us and the security you use to protect your credentials, please take appropriate measures to protect this information.

Data breach

In the event we become aware that the security of the Website and Services has been compromised or Users’ Personal Information has been disclosed to unrelated third parties as a result of external activity, including, but not limited to, security attacks or fraud, we reserve the right to take reasonably appropriate measures, including, but not limited to, investigation and reporting, as well as notification to and cooperation with law enforcement authorities. In the event of a data breach, we will make reasonable efforts to notify affected individuals if we believe that there is a reasonable risk of harm to the User as a result of the breach or if notice is otherwise required by law. When we do, we will post a notice on the Website, send you an email, mail you a letter.

Changes and amendments

We reserve the right to modify this Policy or its terms related to the Website and Services at any time at our discretion. When we do, we will revise the updated date at the bottom of this page. We may also provide notice to you in other ways at our discretion, such as through the contact information you have provided.

An updated version of this Policy will be effective immediately upon the posting of the revised Policy unless otherwise specified. Your continued use of the Website and Services after the effective date of the revised Policy (or such other act specified at that time) will constitute your consent to those changes. However, we will not, without your consent, use your Personal Information in a manner materially different than what was stated at the time your Personal Information was collected.

Acceptance of this policy

You acknowledge that you have read this Policy and agree to all its terms and conditions. By accessing and using the Website and Services and submitting your information you agree to be bound by this Policy. If you do not agree to abide by the terms of this Policy, you are not authorized to access or use the Website and Services. This privacy policy was created with the help of WebsitePolicies.

Contacting us

If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints regarding this Policy, the information we hold about you, or if you wish to exercise your rights, we encourage you to contact us using the details below:

https://hoc.ae/index.php/en/contact-us

We will attempt to resolve complaints and disputes and make every reasonable effort to honor your wish to exercise your rights as quickly as possible and in any event, within the timescales provided by applicable data protection laws.

Payment Gateway

• All credit/debit cards’ details and personally identifiable information will NOT be stored, sold, shared, rented or leased to any third parties
• HOC will not pass any debit/credit card details to third parties
• HOC takes appropriate steps to ensure data privacy and security including through various hardware and software methodologies. However, (www.hoc.ae) cannot guarantee the security of any information that is disclosed online
• HOC is not responsible for the privacy policies of websites to which it links. If you provide any information to such third parties different rules regarding the collection and use of your personal information may apply. You should contact these entities directly if you have any questions about their use of the information that they collect.
• The Website Policies and Terms & Conditions may be changed or updated occasionally to meet the requirements and standards. Therefore, the Customers’ are encouraged to frequently visit these sections to be updated about the changes on the website. Modifications will be effective on the day they are posted.

This document was last updated on May 2023.