Privacy Policy
Who we are
We care about your privacy.
Data protection and digital privacy are important topics for us as a tech company. We strive for a strong value set in what content we share, how we communicate and, of course, when it comes to protecting your data. In order to ensure open, honest and sincere communication, please note that you can contact our team at any time when in doubt about how we handle your data or in case you want to access your own data. It is at the heart of our mission to make our services as clear and transparent as possible.
Equalista is building an educational app with the purpose of providing learning content about existing inequalities and how these can be tackled and changed. Through education, entertainment, and envisioning future ideas we want to develop tools that can counter inequalities and facilitate social change.
In order for you to understand every step of how we handle data and value your privacy fully, you can find anything relevant below.
Why we collect data
As a mobile app provider data processing will be at the core of what we do at Equalista. The data we collect is only limited to what you want to share with us voluntarily, e.g. by creating an account for our App and using it or signing up for our Newsletter, or when you use our Website. This means personal information is only obtained on the individual’s knowledge and consent. We base the data collection of our services on the GDPR.
We collect as little data as possible. We store this information for only as long as it is needed and will make sure you have control over your personal data shared with us.
Whenever you use our services – e.g. when you use the Equalista app or when you go on our website – some personal and non-personal data is collected, stored, and analyzed using internal and third-party tools.
Here are the purposes for which we process data and the type of data that is processed to fulfill each purpose:
To provide our services, understand your needs, and communicate with you
When you use the Equalista app or when you go on our website, Equalista collects, stores, and uses some personal and non-personal data about how you interact with our services, such as Device Data, Event and usage data, and IP-address, and transmits it to some third-party services who process data on Equalista’s behalf.
The main reason why we collect this data and use third-party tools is to provide our service to you, which may include sending occasional informational and promotional messages as well as reminders to your smartphone via in-app messages and push notifications. We are thoughtful about what we communicate and how often. You always remain in full control of your communication preferences with Equalista. You can change the settings in the app or on your device at any time.
The other reason why we process this data is to help us understand your needs and your use of our product, to analyze bugs and fix issues, and to bring you more useful features. In a nutshell, we process this data to provide you with the best and most reliable experience of our services.
When we collect data
Equalista collects data in these situations:
1. When you use the Equalista App
In order to use the Equalista App, you need to create an account and provide a username, email address, and personalized password.
2. When you subscribe to Equalista Plus
If you use the paid Equalista Services – independent of whether as a gift or regular subscription – we will store information about your subscription, including when the subscription was activated, whether it was an in-app purchase, how long the subscription is valid for, and if applicable which voucher was used to activate the subscription.
3. When you pay us a visit on equalista.com
Every time a website is visited data is collected automatically. The information we will receive through that are for example from where you are visiting our website, which device you are using, and which pages you are clicking on. For us, the information collected is ground for important analysis in order to improve our website, to track errors and to make sure our services run smoothly.
4. When you sign up for our newsletter
When you decide to sign up for our newsletter it is likely that you will provide us with your email address as well as your name. That means you trust us with your contact details so we can send you the most up to date information on what is happening at Equalista – great and exciting for us! It ensures that we can keep in touch with you. At the same time, we want to make sure that your trust is rewarded by handling the information you share with us with great care.
5. When you purchase a product in our Online Shop
When you decide to purchase a product, e.g. a sticker set or a gift subscription in our online shop, we need certain personal data, like your email address, billing and shipping information, and payment data. A purchase comes with legal requirements. We need to share your personal data with the external service providers whose services are used in the fulfillment of your order (shippers, logistics companies, payment service providers, banks). Once the contract has been fully performed, your data will be blocked from further use and deleted as soon as applicable tax and commercial law allow us to do so. By purchasing a product in our online shop you support us financially in building Equalista. That means the world for us and we will make sure that you won’t regret that by keeping your data safe.
Once the contract has been fully performed or your customer account deleted, your data will be blocked from further use and deleted as soon as applicable tax and commercial law permits.
The types of data we collect
1. Device data
This data informs us about the device you use to access our services, such as the model, name and identifiers, device settings, application identifier, and crash information. On our website, we collect information about your browser and browser settings, the operating system you use, and the system settings of your device. This information helps us to fix bugs, tailor our services to our users’ devices, and improve our services.
2. Event and usage data
When you use the app or when you go to our website, our servers (located in Europe) process data in order to understand your usage of our services – for example, which pages you visit or which tab in the app you open. We collect this information and use it as aggregate data to better understand which features are the most relevant or useful to our users as a whole and to communicate with you about relevant and timely information and promotional content.
3. IP address
We collect IP addresses provided by your browser or mobile device to deliver the service to your device. We also use the IP address to determine your approximate location for statistical and analytics purposes, and for regulatory compliance in different countries. To be clear, we do not collect your precise location.
This data is necessary for Equalista to deliver the services you use. The amount we collect is minimized wherever possible to respect your privacy.
4. Legal basis
The legal basis for processing the above data is Art 6 section 1(b) of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Equalista may use this data for the purpose of improving the Equalista app, the services we provide to you, and to prevent abusive use of our service. In accordance with Art 6, section 1(f) GDPR, we consider that we have a legitimate interest to offer an error-free and functional service.
We also use the information set out above to analyze the usage of our service.
How we collect data
Cookies, Plugins, and Analysis tools
Normally, cookies, plugins, and analysis tools are used in order to improve web services or assist your visit to our website. Cookies are small files of information stored on your device. Plugins are an addition to software that will improve the web service. All of them function as tools for third-party sites which means necessary information that you will share with Equalista will also be shared with the services we are using.
Your consent for Equalista tracking and analysis
By using our app and our website you consent (in the case of the website, through opt-in in the cookie banner) that Equalista may use cookies and third-party services, and collect your usage data under a unique identifier, for the purposes of tracking, analysis, and improvement of our website and app.
You may withdraw your consent to non-essential tracking and analysis at any time. When visiting our website, you can decline the use of non-essential cookies in the pop-up notification. For the purpose of tracking the performance of our services and to improve Equalista, we use the following third-party services:
1. Cookies
We try to reduce cookie traffic to the absolute minimum. Some of the cookies we use are deleted after the end of your browser session, i.e. once your browser is closed (session cookies). Other cookies remain on your terminal device and enable us to recognize your browser on your next visit (persistent cookies).
You can change your browser settings to ensure that you are informed of the placing of any cookies, and may decide individually whether to accept a cookie in a particular case or exclude them in general. Failure to accept cookies may limit the functionality of our website. We are only working with third party sites that we find absolutely necessary in order to ensure our services run smoothly.
2. WordPress and Gmail
Our Website is run through WordPress and built with Divi as well as hosted by Namecheap and Firebase. So far, we do not use any other plugins to run our website. That, however, might change in the future as they enhance the operationality of our website further. Any updates made will be registered on the privacy policy and kept up to date. For our email communication, we use Gmail. That means that any email you send to us will be stored on our email server. Your data will therefore be shared with Gmail to the extent of what is necessary to be able to use these services.
3. Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a web analysis service operated by Google Inc., based in the USA. Google Analytics uses cookies to analyze how far you interact with our web page. This tool offers us insight into user behavior, gives us the chance to evaluate how well our web pages are received and grants us information on where our services are used. Google may transfer information gathered through cookies to third parties when necessary, e.g. when it is required by law, but will not allow your IP address to be linked to your activities. You can always choose freely if you want cookies to be part of your web experience. However, they help us to enhance your experience.
4. WooCommerce
We use WooCommerce for our Equalista Online Shop operations. As we mentioned above, we need to collect personal information and share data with external providers in order to fulfill your order. Please check the WooCommerce Privacy documentation for further details.
5. Yoast SEO
This is another analytical tool that collects aggregate data on visitors’ usage of our website to enable us to refine our content so that it is better optimized for search engines. Please check the Yoast Privacy documentation for further details.
6. Firebase
Equalista uses a suite of storage, performance analysis, and monitoring tools called Firebase, which is provided by Google Inc. Firebase allows us to store user data, monitor the overall performance and stability of our apps, implement internal version control, identify bugs and prioritize fixes. For this purpose, Firebase collects your IP address, device identifier, as well as event and usage data related to your use of Equalista. This data will be transferred to and stored on a server in the EU and operated by Google, Inc.
It is not possible to opt-out of Firebase as it is an essential tool that we require in order to provide a functioning Equalista app to you.
7. Appropriate safeguards for data transfer outside of the EU
The above-mentioned companies are either EU-based or are based in the United States of America and have ensured an adequate level of data protection by entering into an agreement with Equalista, based on the Standard Contractual Clauses for data transfer between EU countries and non-EU countries. The privacy policy of these services can be found on their respective websites.
Read more about the Standard Contractual Clauses here. Please refer to section 6.1 for further information.
8. Communications, Surveys, and newsletter activities
Equalista uses your personal information, such as your email address, to contact you with messages, emails, and newsletters. These include push notifications, in-app messages, and emails to deliver learning content and occasional promotional materials that may be of interest to you.
You consent to push notifications when you activate Equalista’s push notifications on your device settings. You can withdraw your consent at any time. You can unsubscribe from our newsletter by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the message, and you can disable notifications sent by Equalista in your device settings or in the app.
Equalista may communicate with you via email if you have contacted Equalista for questions or support requests in connection with our services or the Equalista app. For certain support requests, Equalista will have to access and process your personal account data for the purpose of answering your request. You explicitly provide your consent for the processing of your personal data for answering your support request.
Equalista may also use surveys to receive your feedback, e.g. on the performance of the app or on certain learning topics. Such information given by you via such surveys is processed by Equalista for the purposes as set forth in this Privacy Policy.
In order to provide these services, Equalista may share information such as your email address to third-party providers for the sole purpose of carrying out such newsletter services, surveys or notifications. These providers are Mailerlite, seated in Vilnius, Lithuania which may process your email address, name, a user identifier, and usage and certain tracking data to send you information and occasional commercial content via in-app message, push notifications, and email.
The above-mentioned companies are either EU-based or have ensured an adequate level of data protection by entering into an agreement with Equalista, based on the Standard Contractual Clauses for data transfer between EU countries and non-EU countries. The privacy policy of these services can be found on their respective websites.
Read more about the Standard Contractual Clauses here. Please refer to section 6.1 for further information.
Changes
Please note that we reserve all rights to amend our privacy policy in order to keep it up to date. Reasons for that could include changes in the law, technology, or further technical advances such as App updates. We will update our privacy policy regularly. You can find information on when it was last updated at the bottom of this page.
Still have questions that you would like to ask us? We are always happy to help. Do not hesitate to send us an email at help@equalista.com.
Your rights
We believe that privacy – including data privacy – is a basic human right. At Equalista we strive to ensure that your rights are respected.
Here are some key facts about your privacy that we would like you to know:
i. Our products and services have been designed to minimize the use of your personal data. We only collect and process your data for the purposes outlined above and detailed in this Privacy Policy.
ii. The security of our servers is routinely verified by experts to protect your data from unauthorized access. You can contact us at help@equalista.com if you have any questions about the security of our services.
iii. We do not retain your data in an identifiable format for longer than necessary to deliver our services.
iv. Equalista does not engage in any automated decision-making or profiling activities.
v. Equalista does not use advertisements in the App.
As a user of Equalista’s services and website, you may exercise your user rights to:
i. Request information on your personal data processed by Equalista. Upon your request, this information will be provided to you electronically. You can contact us to request your information at help@equalista.com.
ii. Correct your personal information in the app settings available in the Equalista app.
iii. Withdraw your consent from ongoing data processing at any time by deleting your account (please send your delete request to help@equalista.com) and/or unsubscribing from our newsletter or other email communications by clicking the link at bottom of the email.
iv. Request the complete deletion of your data, including all past data sent to third-party services used for tracking and analysis, by reaching out to help@equalista.com. Your data will be deleted within 30 days.
v. Lodge a complaint with the relevant supervising authority if you believe Equalista is processing your personal data in violation of applicable data protection regulations.