Privacy Policy

Who we are

ProQ is a business-to-business procurement marketplace operated in the United Arab Emirates by ASSIST PLUS TRADING BROKERAGE - L.L.C - S.P.C, whose registered office is at Office MO02, Plot No. C26, Ammar Bin Yassar Street, Al Muntazah, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates ("ProQ", "we", "us", "our").

For the purposes of UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 on the Protection of Personal Data and its implementing regulations (the "PDPL"), ProQ is the controller of the personal data described in this policy.

If you have any question about this policy or about how we handle your personal data, contact us at info@assistplus.ae.

Scope of this policy

This policy applies to the ProQ website at https://proq.ae, the ProQ web platform, and the ProQ mobile application for iOS and Android (together, the "Services").

ProQ is a platform for businesses. We ask that you use the Services in a professional capacity on behalf of a company, and not as a consumer.

Where you use the Services on behalf of your employer, that company may also act as a controller of your personal data and may have its own privacy notice that applies alongside this one.

Information you provide to us

You give us the following information when you register, complete your company profile and use the Services.

• Account details: your name, email address, mobile number, job title, preferred language and time zone.
• Identity details: your unique identity number, date of birth, nationality, identity document type and visa expiry date.
• Company details: company name in English and Arabic, business email and phone number, website, address, industry, company size, year established, LinkedIn and Instagram profiles, trade licence number and expiry date, and tax registration number (TRN).
• Verification documents: trade licence, tax certificate, company profile document and copies of owner identity documents, which you upload so that we can verify your business.
• Procurement content: procurement requests, proposals, prices, technical and commercial documents, and any attachments you upload.
• Messages: the content of messages and attachments you exchange with other users through the platform, and any evidence you submit in a dispute.
• Support and enquiries: the information you provide when you contact us through our contact form, by email, on WhatsApp or through our support channels.
• Billing details: your billing information and subscription plan. Card and payment credentials are collected and processed directly by our payment provider — ProQ does not store your full card details.

Information we receive from UAE PASS

ProQ uses UAE PASS, the UAE national digital identity service, to register and authenticate users. When you sign in with UAE PASS you are redirected to UAE PASS, where you authorise the release of your profile information to ProQ.

We receive and store the profile data returned by UAE PASS, which may include your UAE PASS identifier, full name, email address, mobile number, unique identity number, date of birth, nationality, identity document type and visa expiry date, together with the authentication response itself.

Your use of UAE PASS is also governed by the terms and privacy notice of the UAE PASS service, which we do not control.

Information we collect automatically

When you use the Services, including the mobile app, we and our service providers automatically collect certain technical information.

• Device and app information: device model, operating system and version, app version, device language and time zone.
• Identifiers: IP address, session identifiers, authentication tokens, and the push notification identifier assigned to your device by our notification provider.
• Usage data: the pages and screens you view, the features you use, the actions you take, dates and times of access, and referring pages.
• Log and diagnostic data: server logs, error reports and crash information used to keep the Services secure, stable and available.

Location information

ProQ does not track your device's precise location, and the mobile app does not perform background location tracking.

We do collect business location information that you provide, such as your company's registered address and the emirate or city you select when you post a procurement request. We may store coordinates for business addresses in order to display them on a map.

Your approximate location may be inferred from your IP address for security, fraud prevention and regional settings.

How we use your information

We use personal data for the following purposes.

• To create and manage your account and to authenticate you through UAE PASS.
• To verify your identity and your company's legal standing, including reviewing trade licences and other documents submitted for know-your-customer checks.
• To operate the marketplace: publishing procurement requests, matching buyers and suppliers, delivering proposals, and enabling messaging between counterparties.
• To process subscriptions and payments and to issue invoices.
• To send you service communications, including notifications about requests, proposals, messages, expiring documents and account status.
• To provide customer support and respond to your enquiries.
• To maintain the security and integrity of the Services, prevent fraud and misuse, and enforce our terms.
• To analyse and improve the Services, including understanding which features are used and diagnosing technical problems.
• To comply with legal, regulatory, tax and anti-money-laundering obligations in the UAE.
• To send you marketing communications about ProQ where you have consented or where we are otherwise permitted to do so. You can opt out at any time.

Legal bases for processing

Under the PDPL we rely on one or more of the following legal bases.

• Performance of a contract: to provide the Services that you or your company have signed up for.
• Consent: for optional processing such as marketing communications and push notifications, and where consent is required for the release of your UAE PASS profile data. You may withdraw consent at any time.
• Compliance with a legal obligation: including identity verification, record keeping, and tax and anti-money-laundering requirements.
• Our legitimate interests: including securing the platform, preventing fraud, improving the Services and defending legal claims, where those interests are not overridden by your rights.

When we share your information

We do not sell your personal data. We share it in the following circumstances.

• With other platform users: when you post a procurement request or submit a proposal, the relevant details are made visible to the counterparties you transact with. Depending on your subscription plan and settings, buyer identity may be shown as named or anonymised.
• With your company: if you belong to a company account, the administrators of that account can see your profile and your activity within it.
• With service providers: the vendors listed in the next section, who process personal data on our behalf under contract.
• With professional advisers: our auditors, lawyers, insurers and accountants, where necessary.
• With authorities: regulators, law enforcement or courts where we are legally required to disclose, or where disclosure is necessary to protect our rights or the safety of others.
• In a corporate transaction: if ProQ is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing or sale of assets, personal data may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to this policy.

Service providers we use

We use carefully selected providers to operate the Services. Each is bound by contract to process personal data only on our instructions and to apply appropriate security measures.

• UAE PASS — identity verification and single sign-on.
• Idenfo — identity and business verification, which receives the documents and identity data you submit for verification.
• ABT2Pay — payment processing for subscriptions and platform fees.
• OneSignal — delivery of push notifications to your device.
• Amazon Web Services — hosting, database and file storage, with production data hosted in the AWS Middle East region.
• Amazon Simple Email Service — delivery of transactional and service emails.
• OpenAI — processing of text you submit to our AI-assisted features.
• Google reCAPTCHA — protection of our public forms against automated abuse.

International transfers

Some of our service providers operate outside the United Arab Emirates, which means your personal data may be transferred to and processed in other countries.

Where personal data is transferred to a country that the UAE Data Office has not designated as providing an adequate level of protection, we put appropriate safeguards in place, such as contractual commitments requiring a level of protection equivalent to that required by the PDPL.

AI-assisted features

Parts of the Services use artificial intelligence to help you draft and review procurement content. Where you use these features, the text you submit is sent to our AI provider in order to generate a response.

We do not permit our AI provider to use your content to train its models. Please avoid submitting identity documents or confidential information to AI features where it is not necessary.

AI-generated output may be inaccurate or incomplete and should be reviewed before you rely on it. No decision that produces a legal effect for you is made solely by automated means.

How long we keep your information

We keep personal data for as long as your account is active and for as long as necessary to provide the Services.

• Account and company records are kept while your account is active. When an account is deleted, the records are first deactivated and then erased, except where we are required to keep them for longer.
• Verification records, invoices and transaction records are kept for the period required by UAE commercial, tax and anti-money-laundering law, which is typically five years from the end of the relationship.
• Files that you upload but never attach to a record are deleted automatically within 24 hours.
• Authentication tokens expire automatically and are invalidated when you sign out.
• Server and security logs are kept for a limited period for security and troubleshooting purposes.
• Content you shared with counterparties, such as messages and proposals, may remain visible to those counterparties as part of their own records of a completed transaction.

How we protect your information

We apply technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse and alteration. These include:

• Encryption of data in transit using TLS.
• Storage of verification documents and other sensitive files in private, access-controlled storage.
• Role-based access controls, so that our staff only access the data they need.
• Authentication through UAE PASS, with session and mobile tokens that expire.
• Logging and monitoring of access to sensitive records.

No system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. If we become aware of a personal data breach that is likely to prejudice your privacy or the confidentiality of your data, we will notify the UAE Data Office and, where required, you, in line with the PDPL.

Your rights

Subject to the PDPL and any applicable exemptions, you have the right to:

• Request access to the personal data we hold about you and information about how it is processed.
• Request correction of personal data that is inaccurate or incomplete.
• Request deletion of your personal data.
• Request that we restrict or stop processing in certain circumstances.
• Object to processing based on our legitimate interests.
• Request a copy of the personal data you provided to us in a structured, machine-readable format, and ask us to transfer it to another controller where technically feasible.
• Withdraw your consent at any time where processing is based on consent. Withdrawal does not affect processing carried out before the withdrawal.

To exercise any of these rights, email info@assistplus.ae. We may ask you to verify your identity before acting on your request, and we will respond within the period required by law. If you believe we have not handled your personal data properly, you also have the right to complain to the UAE Data Office.

Deleting your account

You can delete your ProQ account at any time from your account settings, both in the mobile app and on the web platform. You can also request deletion by emailing info@assistplus.ae from the address registered to your account.

When you delete your account we deactivate it immediately and stop using your personal data to provide the Services. We then erase or irreversibly anonymise your personal data, except for records we are required to keep by law — such as verification, invoicing and transaction records — and for content already shared with counterparties, which may remain part of their records of a completed transaction.

Deleting a company account may affect other users attached to it. If you are the only administrator of a company account, transfer administration or close the company account before deleting your own account.

Notifications and marketing

• Service notifications: we send in-app, email and push notifications about activity on your account, such as new proposals, messages and expiring documents. You can manage these in your notification preferences.
• Push notifications: the mobile app asks for your permission before sending push notifications. You can turn them off at any time in your device settings or in your ProQ notification preferences.
• Marketing: we only send marketing emails where we are permitted to do so, and every marketing email includes an unsubscribe link.

We may still send you essential messages about your account, security and legal notices, which you cannot opt out of while your account is active.

Cookies and similar technologies

Our website and web platform use cookies and similar technologies. Strictly necessary cookies keep you signed in, remember your language preference and protect our forms against abuse; the Services will not work properly without them.

We use Google reCAPTCHA on our public forms to distinguish genuine users from automated abuse. reCAPTCHA collects device and usage information subject to Google's privacy policy.

You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Blocking necessary cookies may prevent you from signing in.

The mobile app does not use browser cookies, but it does store authentication tokens and your preferences locally on your device.

Children's privacy

The Services are intended for businesses and for individuals aged 18 or over acting on behalf of a business. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18.

If you believe that a person under 18 has provided us with personal data, contact us at info@assistplus.ae and we will delete it.

Links to other services

The Services may link to third-party websites and services, including UAE PASS, our payment provider and the websites of other platform users. We are not responsible for their content or their privacy practices, and we encourage you to read their privacy notices.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the date shown at the top of this page.

If the changes are significant, we will notify you through the Services or by email before they take effect. Continuing to use the Services after the changes take effect means that you accept the updated policy.

How to contact us

For any privacy question, request or complaint, contact us by email at info@assistplus.ae or by telephone on 02 641 6751.

You can also write to us at ASSIST PLUS TRADING BROKERAGE - L.L.C - S.P.C, Office MO02, Plot No. C26, Ammar Bin Yassar Street, Al Muntazah, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

This policy is governed by the laws of the United Arab Emirates as applied in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the UAE Data Office.