PRIVACY POLICY

Last Update: September 2023

Conart Group Ltd (“Conart”) brings together artists (“Artists”), collectors (“Collectors”) and other stakeholders in the art ecosystem (collectively, our “Users”) to better connect Users and to help them discover and buy original art.

Conart is the controller of your personal information. Personal information is information that can identify you, such as your name, email address or home address, or information that could reasonably be linked back to you.

Conart values and respects your privacy. We have prepared this privacy policy to explain the manner in which we collect, use and disclose personal information through our website located at theconart.com (the “Website”), through any mobile device software provided by us to you (the “App”), and in our other interactions with you (collectively, the “Service”), and the ways that you can manage how your personal information is used, including the right to object to certain types of processing. See below for more information on your rights as a data subject.      

COLLECTION AND USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION 

We collect and use your personal information when you:

Apply to become a User (for Artists): Prior to becoming a Artist User, you must first open a User account. When you register for an account, we collect your first and last name, an email address, your city, a public username and information contained in your portfolio or CV (by asking you to send a link to your online portfolio or social media). 

We use the above-noted information to process, evaluate, and respond to your application to become an Artist User, and to create and administer your online account. When you create or log-in to a User account, we will send a one time code to your email address, and ask you to verify that code in the App. Do not disclose your one-time code to anyone. We will never ask you for your one-time code in any communication from us (such as phone calls, text messages or email messages). If you become aware of any unauthorized access to or use of your account, you are required to notify us immediately.

Create a User Account (for Collectors and other Users): When you create a Collector or other User account, we collect your first and last name, an email address, your city, optional information about your engagement with and interest in art and a public username. We use this information to create and administer your online account. When you create or log-in to a User account, we will send a one time code to your email address, and ask you to verify that code in the App. Do not disclose your one time code to anyone. We will never ask you for your one time code in any communication from us (such as phone calls, text messages or email messages). If you become aware of any unauthorized access to or use of your account, you are required to notify us immediately.

Where we provide you with the option of applying for, signing up for, or logging in to an account with your Google account, we will collect your name, Google account email address, and account information for the purpose of authenticating you and administering your account. 

Join the User Waitlist: Prior to creating a User account, you could be invited to join a waitlist by providing your first and last name and your email address. We will contact you using the email address provided when we invite you to create an account.

Create and Share your Public User Profile: User profiles are public and Users can create, curate, and share their art collections and artistic interests with other Users. 

When creating a profile, we will invite you to write a short bio that will be publicly viewable on your profile page and to upload a profile photo. The information you upload to your profile is public and viewable by other Users. Accordingly, you should be aware that any information you provide in these areas will be publicly viewable. Please see our Terms of Use for rules and restrictions regarding User Submissions (as defined therein).

We collect additional information from you to create your public User profile:

• Information about you as an Artist: If you are an Artist, we invite you to add details to your profile about you as an Artist, including photos or videos of your artworks, information about your process and interests, or your background, training, future or past exhibitions, publications or recent press, grants and awards.

• Information about you as a Collector or other User: As a Collector or other User of the Service, we invite you to share information about yourself, including your occupation, your perspectives about art, the Artists you are interested in and follow through the Service, and the artwork in your collection.      

Use Collections: We invite Users to curate collections of artwork (“Collections”) that other Users can view and follow. Creating Collections allow Users to curate and share artwork they find interesting. We use the Collections to personalise the User’s experience, features and content on the App. 

Connect with other Users: Connection is a key element of the Service. We allow our Users to invite, follow, connect with and be followed by other Users on the Service, and to view the profiles and Collections of other Users. Accordingly, please remember that any information you upload to your profile is publicly viewable and may be read, collected, and used by other Users. Please see our Terms of Use for rules and restrictions regarding User Submissions (as defined therein).

Buy and sell artwork: We collect and use certain personal information to facilitate the buying and selling of art by our Users, as described below:

Buying artwork 

• When you offer to purchase artwork, we display information about the offer, including the amount of the offer and your username. 

• When an offer is created, we will ask you to provide your shipping address.

Selling artwork

• If you wish to sell artwork using our Service, we will ask you to upload and display information about the artwork, including the asking price for the work, as well as photos of the work and information about its medium and size dimensions. You may also provide unique written or visual perspectives on the artwork. This information is public and viewable by other Users. 

• We will ask you to provide the location of the artwork in order to help us determine estimated shipping costs, shipping information and provide shipment tracking details to the buyer. 

Make or Receive Payments: If you are an Artist selling an artwork, you earn proceeds from the sale of such artwork.  

When you buy or sell artwork, we collect your card information (including payment method, card number, expiry date, the name on the card, and CVV code) in order to process the payment. We do not store payment information entered through our Service; rather, we use a third-party payment processor who is Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliant to facilitate secure payment processing. We only use this information to process and deposit artwork sale payments.

Visit the Website and use the App: You do not have to register to visit or use our Website. However, when using the App, you are required to log-in using your User account. We collect some personal information when you visit our Website or use the App. Please see the "Information about our Website and App" section below for detailed information regarding the personal information we collect when you visit our Website or use the App, and the choices you have with regards to that collection and use. 

Sign-up to receive marketing communications: If you sign-up to receive email marketing communications such as newsletters, we collect your email address as well as other information on an optional basis to help us tailor our communications to you. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the “unsubscribe” link included at the bottom of each email or in the Settings section of the App. Please note that you may continue to receive transactional and account-related communications from us.

Custom Audience: We use services provided by third-party platforms (such as social media and other websites) to serve targeted advertisements on such platforms to you or others, and we provide a hashed version of your email address or other information to the platform provider for such purposes. To opt-out of the use of your information for such purposes, please send a request using any of the methods set forth in the Contact Us section below.

Connect with us on social media: We offer you the opportunity to engage with our content on or through third-party social networking websites, plug-ins and applications. When you engage with our content on or through third-party social networking websites, plug-ins and applications, you can allow us to have access to certain information associated with your social media account (e.g., name, username, email address, profile picture, gender) to deliver the content or as part of the operation of the website, plug-in or application. When you provide information from your social media account, we use this information to personalize your experience on the Website or App.

Send or Receive Referrals: Our Website and App permit you to tell others about Conart. We do this by providing you with a referral link or code, which you can then provide to a friend or family member for their use in accessing our App and applying to create an account.

Participate in a contest or promotion: When you enter a contest or participate in a promotion, we will collect your name, address, email address, phone number, and any additional information or content required for the contest or promotion, including to deliver a prize to you, or that you otherwise provide, including your social media handle, profile picture and public posts or comments you make about our contest on social media networks. We use this information to administer the contest or promotion. As part of a contest or promotion, we can also share or otherwise publish the content you submit.

Participate in a survey: From time to time, we can offer you the opportunity to participate in one of our surveys. The information obtained through our surveys is used in an aggregated, de-identified form. We use this information to help us understand our Users and to enhance our Website and App.

Contact Us: When you contact us with a comment, question or complaint, you may be asked for information that identifies you for verification purposes, such as your name, mailing address, email address, or telephone number, along with additional information we need to help us promptly answer your question or respond to your comment.  We retain this information to assist you in the future and to improve our customer service and service offerings.

SHARING OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We do not disclose your personal information to third parties without your consent, except as set forth below or as required or permitted by law.

Service Providers: Your personal information will be transferred (or otherwise made available) to certain third parties that provide services on our behalf. We use service providers to provide services such as hosting the Website and App, cloud storage, payment processing, shipping, insurance, customer support and issue-tracking capabilities, and providing advertising, analytics, and marketing services. Our service providers are only provided with the information they need to perform their designated functions and are not authorized to use or disclose personal information for their own marketing or other purposes. 

Legal and Compliance: We and our service providers may provide your personal information in response to a search warrant to other legally valid inquiry or order, or to another organization for the purposes of investigating a breach of an agreement or contravention of law or detecting, suppressing or preventing fraud, or as otherwise may be required or permitted by applicable law or legal process, which may include lawful access by applicable courts, law enforcement or other government authorities. Your personal information may also be disclosed where necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims and to investigate or prevent actual or suspected loss or harm to persons or property.

Sale of Business: We may transfer any information we have about you as an asset in connection with a proposed or completed merger, acquisition or sale (including transfers made as part of insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings) involving all or part of Conart Group Ltd or as part of a corporate reorganization or other change in corporate control.

INFORMATION ABOUT OUR WEBSITE AND APP

Visiting our Website: In general, you can visit our Website without telling us who you are or submitting any personal information. However, we collect the IP (Internet protocol) addresses of all visitors to our Website and other related information such as page requests, browser type, operating system and average time spent on our Website. We use this information to help us understand our Website activity and to monitor and improve our Website.

Push Notifications: If you provide your consent to receive push notifications, we may send push notifications to your mobile device to provide you with relevant information, such as: news about Conart, including product updates and features; news about the community and other third-party services; suggestions for recommended artworks and artists; notifications when an Artist you follow adds a new artwork, someone you follow creates a new Collection, someone adds an artwork to a Collection you follow, someone adds one of your artworks to their Collection, someone places an offer on one of your artworks, one of your artworks sells; new followers of your profile or Collection; and shipping notifications. If you wish to stop receiving push notifications from us, you can turn off push notifications for the App either within the App preferences page or in the settings of your mobile device.

Cookies:  Our Website uses a technology called "cookies". A cookie is a tiny element of data that our Website and App sends to a User’s browser, which may then be stored on the User’s hard drive so that we can recognize the User’s computer or device when they return. You can learn more about how we use cookies and similar technologies in our Cookies Policy.

Analytics: We use third parties such as Google Analytics to help us gather and analyze information about the areas visited on the Website (such as the pages most read, time spent, search terms and other engagement data) in order to evaluate and improve the User experience and the Website. These third parties use cookies and other tracking technologies. 

For more information about Google Analytics or to prevent the storage and processing of this data (including your IP address) by Google, you can download and install the browser plug-in available at the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en. You can also obtain additional information on Google Analytics’ data privacy and security at the following links:

•  https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites and

• https://support.google.com/analytics/topic/2919631

App Usage Information and Analytics: As with many applications, certain limited data is required for the App to function on your device. This data includes the type of device hardware and operating system, unique device identifier, IP address, language settings, and the date and time the App accesses our servers. We use this information to help us understand the activity on our App, to monitor and improve our App, to verify that you are complying with our geographic restrictions in accordance with our Terms of Use, and to tailor your in-App experience. In addition, we may use third party service providers to collect analytical information about your use of the App, such as the App features used and time spent on the App, to help us tailor your in-App experience, improve our products and the quality of our App, and to manage and analyze data in order to better understand our Users.

Third Party Links:  Our Website may contain links to other websites that Conart does not own or operate. We provide links to third party websites as a convenience to the User. These links are not intended as an endorsement of or referral to the linked websites. The linked websites have separate and independent privacy policies, notices and terms of use. We do not have any control over such websites, and therefore we have no responsibility or liability for the manner in which the organizations that operate such linked websites may collect, use or disclose, secure and otherwise treat personal information. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit.

SAFEGUARDS, ACCOUNT DELETION AND RETENTION

You can delete your User account at any time (subject to consignment terms applicable to Conart artists) by contacting us at hello@theconart.com. If you delete your account, information about the artwork you have purchased or sold will continue to be publicly viewable on the Service. However, any attribution of such information to you will be removed. Further, we may retain certain information to meet our legal or regulatory obligations.

We will retain your personal information only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy policy. Conart will retain and use your personal information to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your personal data to comply with applicable law), to resolve disputes and to enforce our agreements. Please note that on the termination of your contractual relationship with Conart, Conart may continue to retain your personal information for these purposes. Once specific retention timelines have passed and we have no further specific reason to retain that personal information, the relevant personal information will be erased. 

DATA TRANSFERS

In some cases, we may need to transfer your information to recipients outside the EEA for the purposes described in this privacy policy. If you are based in the EEA, Switzerland or the UK, and your personal data is transferred to a third country, some of these countries may not offer the same level of data protection as in your home country. 

Conart relies on the European Commission’s adequacy decisions on certain countries to transfer your information from the EEA. In certain limited circumstances, we may use derogations, such as the contractual necessity derogation, where appropriate to process personal information, when there are no other data transfer mechanisms applicable. In all other situations where we transfer your information to outside the EEA, Switzerland or the UK, we do so in accordance with EU data protection law.

YOUR RIGHTS AND ACCESS TO YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

You have several rights in relation to your personal information, subject to applicable law. While some of these rights apply generally, certain rights apply only in limited cases.

Right of access - You have a right to request access to your personal information and to be provided with a copy of certain information including the categories of your personal information we collect and disclose.  

Right of rectification - You have the right to request that we rectify inaccurate personal information about you.

Right of erasure - You have the right, in certain cases, to request that we delete your personal information, provided there are valid grounds for doing so and subject to applicable law. 

Right to data portability - You may have the right to receive certain of your information in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and to transmit such information to another controller.     

Right to object (marketing) - You have the right to object to processing for direct marketing purposes at any time.

Right to object (legitimate interest) - Where we process your personal information based on legitimate interests, you can object to this processing in certain circumstances. Unless we have compelling legitimate grounds or where it is needed for legal reasons, we will cease processing your information when you object.

Right to restrict processing - You have the right, in certain cases, to temporarily restrict the processing of your information by us, provided there are valid grounds for doing so.

Right to withdraw your consent- Where we have sought your consent for certain processing activities, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Please note that the lawfulness of any processing undertaken prior to your withdrawal of consent shall not be affected by the withdrawal.

Right to complain- You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority for data protection.

However, these rights may not be exercised in certain circumstances, such as when the processing of your data is necessary to comply with a legal obligation or for the exercise or defence of legal claims. 

UPDATES TO THE PRIVACY POLICY

We may amend or update this privacy policy from time to time. The updated privacy policy will be made available through our Service and if we make any material changes to this privacy policy, we will contact Users directly by email for notification purposes. We will indicate at the top of this privacy policy when it was most recently updated.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions or comments about this privacy policy or the manner in which we or our service providers process your personal information, or you wish to avail of any of your rights set out herein, please contact us at:

Privacy Officer

hello@theconart.com

Conart Group Ltd, c/o Avery Law LLP, Clutha House, 10 Storey’s Gate, London, UK, SW1P 3AY.

If you are not satisfied with our use of your personal data or our response to any request by you to exercise any of your rights, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority for data protection.