This web site is one of many sites owned and operated by YPC Ltd, a company that
is committed to protecting the privacy of Internet users. Whilst our company
strives to deliver more convenient, customised services that meet your present
and future needs, YPC also appreciates the uncertainty that comes with
interacting in a constantly changing environment. We are sensitive to the
concerns that our users may have with regards to the confidentiality, security
and use of their personal information via our web sites, and would like to
reassure you of our position on this matter.
YPC Ltd encourages you to check the YPC Ltd privacy statement regularly as this
privacy statement may change from time to time. If you have any suggestions or
concerns that are not addressed in this privacy statement, please contact
us.
Please take some time to read through this statement and understand our position
on privacy, by clicking the links:
Our
commitment to your privacy
Aside from the contents of this statement, YPC Ltd's conduct in the online
environment is also governed by a number of statutory and non-statutory
policies as part of the telecommunications industry, and our corporate privacy
principles.
YPC Ltd's Privacy Principles
YPC Ltd operates in accordance with the following corporate privacy
principles:
Principle 1: Collection of information
YPC collects personal information in a number of ways, including:
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directly from you, when you provide information by phone or in documents such
as an application form;
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from third parties such as our related companies, carriage service providers,
credit reporting agencies or your representatives;
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from publicly available sources of information;
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from the organisations identified below under "When we disclose your
personal information";
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from our own records of how you use our services; or
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when legally required to do so.
Principle 2: Use of information
Your personal information may be used in order to:
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provide the services you require, including directory services, through a
number of media;
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administer and manage those services, including charging, billing and
collecting debts;
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inform you of ways the services provided to you could be improved;
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conduct appropriate checks for credit-worthiness and for fraud;
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research and develop our services;
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gain an understanding of your information and communication needs in order for
us to provide you with a better service;
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maintain and develop our business systems and infrastructure, including testing
and upgrading of these systems;
Your personal information is also collected to promote and market other
services which we consider may be of interest to you. If you do not wish us to
contact you regarding other services please call
000 000 000.
Principle 3: Disclosure of information
For the purposes set out above we may disclose your personal information to
organisations outside YPC. The organisations to which we disclose information
include:
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Yellow Pages Congo and other related companies;
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outsourced service providers who manage the services we provide to you,
including:
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customer enquiries;
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mailing systems;
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billing and debt-recovery functions;
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information technology services;
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marketing, telemarketing and door-knocking services;
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market research;
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your representatives (eg your authorised representatives or legal advisers);
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credit-reporting and fraud-checking agencies;
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credit providers for credit related purposes such as creditworthiness, credit
rating, credit provision and financing;
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our professional advisers, including our accountants, auditors and lawyers;
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our professional advisers, including our accountants, auditors and lawyers;
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government and regulatory authorities and other organisations, as required or
authorised by law;
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organisations involved in:
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a transfer/sale of all or part of our assets or business (including accounts
and trade receivables); and
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managing our corporate risk and funding functions (eg securitisation).
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other telecommunication and information service providers.
Principle 4: Data quality
Prior to the use and disclosure of personal information, reasonable steps will
be taken to ensure that personal information is relevant and to the extent
necessary, accurate, complete and up to date for the purpose for which it is to
be used.
Principle 5: Data security
Safeguards will be maintained to protect personal information against
unauthorised access, alteration, destruction, use or disclosure and against
accidental loss.
Principle 6: Openness
YPC will have clearly expressed policies on its management of personal
information and these will continue to be readily available. YPC will take
reasonable steps to let individuals know, generally, what sort of personal
information it holds, for what purposes, and how it collects, uses, and
discloses that information.
Principle 7: Access and correction
Where YPC holds personal information about an individual, it will provide the
individual with access to the information on request, in a form or manner
suitable to the individual's reasonable needs, except to the extent that:
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providing access would pose a serious and imminent threat to the life or health
of any individual; or
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providing access would have an unreasonable impact upon the privacy of other
individuals; or
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the request for access is frivolous or vexatious; or
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the information relates to existing legal dispute resolution proceedings
between YPC and the individual, and the information would not be accessible by
the process of discovery in those proceedings; or
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providing access would reveal the intentions of YPC in relation to negotiations
with the individual in such a way as to prejudice those negotiations; or
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providing access would be unlawful; or
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denying access is specifically authorised by law; or
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providing access would be likely to prejudice an investigation of possible
unlawful activity; or
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providing access would be likely to prejudice:
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the prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution or punishment of
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criminal offences; or
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breaches of a law imposing a penalty or sanction
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the enforcement of laws relating to the confiscation of the proceeds of crime;
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the protection of the public revenue;
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the prevention, detection, investigation or remedying of Seriously Improper
Conduct; or
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preparation for, or conduct of, proceedings before any court or tribunal, or
implementation of its orders; by or on behalf of an enforcement agency
Where providing access would reveal evaluative information generated within YPC
in connection with a commercially sensitive decision-making process, YPC may
give the individual an explanation for the decision, rather than direct access
to the information.
If YPC has given an individual such an explanation and the individual believes
that direct access to the evaluative information is necessary to provide a
reasonable explanation of the reasons for the decision, YPC will, at the
request of the individual, undertake a review of the decision. The review will
be undertaken by personnel other than the original decision maker.
Wherever direct access by the individual is impractical or inappropriate, YPC
and the individual should consider whether the use of mutually agreed
intermediaries would allow sufficient access to meet the needs of both parties.
If YPC levies charges for providing access to personal information, those
charges:
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will not be excessive; and
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will not apply to lodging a request for access.
If YPC holds personal information about an individual and the individual is
able to establish that the information is not accurate, complete and
up-to-date, YPC will take reasonable steps to correct the information so that
it is accurate, complete and up-to-date. If the individual and YPC disagree
about whether the information is accurate, complete and up-to-date, and the
individual asks YPC to associate with the information a statement claiming that
the information is not accurate, complete or up-to-date, YPC will take
reasonable steps to do so. YPC will provide reasons for denial of access or
correction.
Principle 8: Identifiers
YPC will not adopt as its own identifier an identifier that has been assigned
by a government agency (or by an agent of, or contractor to, a government
agency acting in its capacity as agent or contractor). YPC will not use or
disclose an identifier assigned to an individual by a government agency except
where paragraphs (c) to (f) of Principle 3 apply.
Principle 9: Anonymity
Whenever it is lawful and practicable, individuals will have the option of not
identifying themselves when dealing with YPC.
Principle 10: Transborder data flows
YPC will not transfer personal data outside RD Congo unless:
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YPC reasonably believes that the recipient of the information is subject to a
statute, binding scheme or contract which effectively upholds principles for
fair information handling that are substantially similar to these rules; or
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the individual concerned consents to the transfer; or
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the transfer is necessary for the performance of a contract between the
individual concerned and YPC, or for the implementation of pre-contractual
measures taken in respect to the individual's request; or
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the transfer is necessary for the conclusion or performance of a contract
concluded in the interest of the individual concerned between YPC and a third
party; or
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the transfer is for the benefit of the individual concerned; and
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it is not practicable to obtain the consent of the subject of the information
to that transfer; and
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if it were practicable to obtain such consent, the subject of the information
would give it; or
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YPC has taken reasonable steps to ensure that the information which it has
transferred will not be collected, held, used or disclosed by the recipient of
the information inconsistently with these rules.
Principle 11: Sensitive information
YPC will not collect personal information revealing racial or ethnic origin,
political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership,
or details of health, disability or sexual activity or orientation unless:
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the subject of the information has consented; or
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the collection is required or specifically authorised by law; or
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the collection is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat
to the life or health of any individual, where the subject of the information
is physically or legally incapable of giving consent; or
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the collection is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of a
legal claim.
Principle 12: New services and development
YPC will consider the privacy impact of new services before they are
introduced.
Where appropriate, customers will be permitted to choose between various degrees
of privacy protection in respect of these new services.
Principle 13: Compliance audit
YPC may maintain an independent compliance audit program to ensure its privacy
protection principles and policies remain appropriate, and that YPC operates in
compliance with those principles and policies.
What
web sites does this statement apply to?
This privacy statement applies to the web sites which are owned and
operated by YPC Ltd under the following domain names:
* This also includes all pagesjaunesrdcongo.com branded web sites.
In addition to those listed above, this statement may also apply to services
offered by YPC Ltd on websites hosted by third parties. If so, express
reference to this privacy statement must be made on those websites.
How
is my personal information collected?
The types of personal information that we collect from you will depend on
how you interact with YPC Ltd's web sites. This section will explain in a broad
sense, the type of personal information that can be collected via our web
sites, and how this information contributes to the development of YPC Ltd web
sites. At the bottom of this section you can link to a page for a more specific
description of what information is collected on each of our web sites and how
it may be used.
Cookies
Many of the web sites owned and operated by YPC use cookies. Cookies are
pieces of information that a website can transfer to an individual's computer
hard drive for tracking (site usage) user navigation and customising site
information to further improve the user experience. Cookies can make using YPC
Ltd's websites easier, for example by storing information about your
preferences on a particular website. This will enable you to take full
advantage of the services that YPC Ltd and its affiliate sites offer. The use
of cookies is an industry standard and you'll find most major websites use
them.
Most Internet browsers are pre-set to accept cookies. However, if you are
concerned about the use of cookies you do have the option to opt-out and refuse
the transfer of cookies to your computer's hard drive. If you prefer not to
receive cookies, you can adjust your Internet browser to refuse cookies or to
warn you when cookies are being used. If you need further assistance to modify
the cookie arrangement on your PC, please contact the company that produces
your browser.
Online forms
When applying for membership or submitting information on some of our
sites, we will collect details such as your name, email address and some
details of your personal interests. Some of this information is essential for
us to be able to identify accurately who is using the service so that we may be
able to respond to your requests and, as such, is indicated by mandatory
fields. Mandatory information requirements are clearly identified and are
denoted by a red asterisks (*). You will also be
prompted when submitting a form if mandatory data has not been completed. Other
types of information, such as your age and gender, are collected to help us
profile who is using the services and what their interests are. Information of
this type is optional - you need only fill it in if you wish to do so.
In general, you may be asked to provide YPC Ltd with personally identifiable
information when you:
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Send us your comments or suggestions
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Report a technical problem
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Create a link to one of YPC Ltd's sites
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Register with a site
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Update your listing details
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Request sales and advertising information
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Volunteer to test YPC Ltd's products
We value your trust in our web sites and, in all cases, your information will
be held in the strictest confidence. For extra protection we have processes in
place, so that whenever a page is requested from our web site, we record the
time, date and URL of the request, along with information on the browser
software that is being used.
In all cases, the primary purpose in gathering information on our web site users
is to gain a better understanding of your needs and wants, and develop new and
innovative solutions.
How
can I control my personal information?
Users are not required to register on YPC Ltd's web sites in order to use
them. In certain cases registration will provide more information and enhance
the user experience. This registration is an option only and will not restrict
you from using other aspects of the site.
Our commitment is to provide you with the opportunity to 'opt-out', access or
correct any information you have submitted online to YPC Ltd or any one of its
affiliate sites. Please refer to the appropriate site and page to request your
changes. When notified and requested, YPC Ltd will remove any personal
identifiable information from the current operational systems.
How
secure is my information?
Any personal information that you submit to our web sites is held with the
strictest confidence. YPC Ltd uses and implements industry standards for the
security and protection of information collected from its users. This
information is securely stored and access is restricted to authorised YPC
personnel only, ensuring that your personal information is protected and
safeguarded (YPC Ltd Privacy Protection Principles; Principle 5: Data
Security).
The information you submit to YPC Ltd is used only for the purpose stipulated at
the time that the information is collected. YPC Ltd is required by law not to
reveal, disclose, sell, distribute, rent, licence, share or pass on to any
third parties, any personal information that you may have provided to us unless
we have your express consent to do so.
Exceptions to this include:
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Where there are reasonable grounds to believe that disclosure is necessary to
prevent a threat to life or health; and;
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Where YPC Ltd is required to provide information in response to Subpoenas or
Warrants or other legal process.
How
we use information?
The information we gather from your use of YPC Ltd and its affiliate sites
enables us to provide better services that are tailored to your needs.
Recording usage patterns help us identify the areas of our site that are
popular and those that are not. The data that is gathered is aggregated for
analysis by YPC Ltd. Identifiable characteristics are removed and the user
remains anonymous.
We use the information that you submit via an OnLine Form from any of the YPC
Ltd web sites in any one of the following ways:
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To make changes to your profile at your request
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To register information at your request
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To respond to your submission or inquiry
We will only record your e-mail address if you send us a message. It will only
be used for the purpose for which you have provided it, as outlined above. Your
personal identifiable information will not be used for any other purpose, and
we will not disclose it without your consent.
The information and feedback you provide is used to identify ways of improving
the sites and how we can make it more effective for your use.
Are
my children at risk using YPC Ltd's web sites?
The safety of children is very important to us.
We ask that children under the age of 16 have a parent or guardian verify their
registration on web sites and the submission of OnLine Forms. Whilst YPC Ltd
and its affiliated sites will make every reasonable effort to ensure that
children's privacy and other rights are not compromised, it is ultimately the
responsibility of parents or guardians to monitor their children's Internet
usage.
Children should always ask a parent before sending any transmission over the
Internet.
Third
Party Sites
YPC Ltd acknowledges that you will click-through to third party sites from
our sites, and thus recommends that you refer to the privacy statement of the
sites you visit. YPC Ltd's privacy statement is applicable for YPC Ltd and its
affiliate sites (listed in full above), and assumes no responsibility for
information and content of third party sites.
What
else should you know about privacy?
Here are some more pointers to assist you in further protecting you privacy
on the Internet.
Remember to close your browser when you have finished your user session. This is
to ensure that others cannot access your personal information and
correspondence if you share a computer with someone else or are using a
computer in a public place like a library or Internet cafe. You, as an
individual, are responsible for the security of and access to your own
computer.
Please be aware that whenever you voluntarily disclose personal information over
the Internet (for example: in discussion forums, via email or in chat sites)
that this information can be collected and used by others. In short, if you
post personal information in publicly accessible online fora you may receive
unsolicited messages from other parties in return.
Ultimately, you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your
username and passwords and/or any account information. Please be careful and
responsible whenever you are using the Internet and YPC Ltd or any of its
affiliated sites.