Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

VirtualHire.ph ("we," "our," or "us") respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website VirtualHire.ph, including any other media form, media channel, mobile website, or mobile application related or connected to VirtualHire.ph (collectively, the "Platform").

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. If you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not access the Platform. We reserve the right to make changes to this Privacy Policy at any time and for any reason. We will alert you about any changes by updating the "Last Updated" date of this Privacy Policy. Any changes or modifications will be effective immediately upon posting the updated Privacy Policy on the Platform, and you waive the right to receive specific notice of each such change or modification.

2. Information We Collect

2.1. Personal Information

We may collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you register on the Platform, express an interest in obtaining information about us or our products and services, participate in activities on the Platform, or otherwise contact us. The personal information we collect may include:

• Full name
• Email address
• Phone number
• Mailing address
• Profile photo
• Date of birth
• Government-issued identification (for identity verification)
• Education and employment history
• Skills and qualifications
• Portfolio samples
• Payment information

2.2. Automatically Collected Information

When you access the Platform, we may automatically collect certain information about your device, including:

• Device type and model
• Operating system
• Browser type
• IP address
• Time zone
• Cookies, web beacons, and other tracking technologies
• Referring website domains and pages
• Pages you view on our Platform
• Time spent on those pages
• Links you click

3. How We Use Your Information

We may use the information we collect from you for various purposes, including:

• Creating and managing your account
• Facilitating the connection between Employers and Freelancers
• Processing payments and transactions
• Fulfilling our contractual obligations
• Verifying your identity and eligibility
• Calculating and displaying Trust Scores
• Sending administrative information
• Sending marketing and promotional communications
• Responding to customer service requests
• Administering promotions, surveys, and contests
• Delivering targeted advertising
• Improving user experience
• Protecting our Platform and users from fraud and abuse
• Complying with legal obligations

4. Disclosure of Your Information

We may share information we have collected about you in certain situations. Your information may be disclosed as follows:

4.1. By Law or to Protect Rights

If we believe the release of information about you is necessary to respond to legal process, to investigate or remedy potential violations of our policies, or to protect the rights, property, and safety of others, we may share your information as permitted or required by any applicable law, rule, or regulation.

4.2. Third-Party Service Providers

We may share your information with third-party service providers who perform services on our behalf, including payment processing, data analysis, email delivery, hosting services, customer service, and marketing assistance.

4.3. Marketing Communications

With your consent, or with an opportunity for you to withdraw consent, we may share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.

4.4. Interactions with Other Users

If you interact with other users of the Platform, those users may see your profile, work history, and other information you make public.

4.5. Online Postings

When you post comments, contributions, or other content to the Platform, your posts may be viewed by all users and may be publicly distributed outside the Platform in perpetuity.

4.6. Business Transfers

We may share or transfer your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company.

5. Security of Your Information

We use administrative, technical, and physical security measures to help protect your personal information. While we have taken reasonable steps to secure the personal information you provide to us, please be aware that despite our efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable, and no method of data transmission can be guaranteed against any interception or other type of misuse.

Any information disclosed online is vulnerable to interception and misuse by unauthorized parties. Therefore, we cannot guarantee complete security if you provide personal information.

6. Data Retention

We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. No purpose in this policy will require us keeping your personal information for longer than the period in which you have an account with us plus five (5) years.

When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymize it, or, if this is not possible, then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.

7. Cookies and Web Beacons

We may use cookies, web beacons, tracking pixels, and other tracking technologies on the Platform to help customize the Platform and improve your experience. When you access the Platform, your personal information is not collected through the use of tracking technology.

Most browsers are set to accept cookies by default. You can remove or reject cookies, but be aware that such action could affect the availability and functionality of the Platform. You may not decline web beacons. However, they can be rendered ineffective by declining all cookies or by modifying your web browser's settings to notify you each time a cookie is tendered, permitting you to accept or decline cookies on an individual basis.

8. Third-Party Websites

The Platform may contain links to third-party websites and applications of interest, including advertisements and external services, that are not affiliated with us. Once you have used these links to leave the Platform, any information you provide to these third parties is not covered by this Privacy Policy, and we cannot guarantee the safety and privacy of your information. Before visiting and providing any information to any third-party websites, you should inform yourself of the privacy policies and practices of the third party responsible for that website, and should take those steps necessary to, in your discretion, protect the privacy of your information.

We are not responsible for the content or privacy and security practices and policies of any third parties, including other sites, services, or applications that may be linked to or from the Platform.

9. Controls for Do-Not-Track Features

Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems include a Do-Not-Track ("DNT") feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. No uniform technology standard for recognizing and implementing DNT signals has been finalized. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online.

10. Your Rights Regarding Your Information

10.1. Account Information

You may at any time review or change the information in your account by:

• Logging into your account settings and updating your account
• Contacting us using the contact information provided below

Upon your request to terminate your account, we will deactivate or delete your account and information from our active databases. However, some information may be retained in our files to prevent fraud, troubleshoot problems, assist with any investigations, enforce our Terms of Service, and/or comply with legal requirements.

10.2. Emails and Communications

If you no longer wish to receive correspondence, emails, or other communications from us, you may opt-out by:

• Clicking the "unsubscribe" link in any email from us
• Logging into your account settings and updating your preferences
• Contacting us using the contact information provided below

11. Data Protection Rights Under the Data Privacy Act of 2012

If you are a resident of the Philippines, you have the following rights under the Data Privacy Act of 2012:

• Right to be informed - You have the right to be informed whether personal data pertaining to you will be, are being, or have been processed.
• Right to access - You have the right to reasonable access to your personal data.
• Right to rectification - You have the right to dispute the inaccuracy or error in your personal data and have us correct it immediately, unless the request is vexatious or unreasonable.
• Right to erasure or blocking - You have the right to suspend, withdraw, or order the blocking, removal, or destruction of your personal data from our filing system.
• Right to damages - You have the right to be indemnified for damages sustained due to inaccurate, incomplete, outdated, false, unlawfully obtained, or unauthorized use of your personal data.
• Right to data portability - You have the right to obtain a copy of your data in an electronic or structured format that is commonly used and allows for further use.
• Right to object - You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data, including processing for direct marketing, automated processing, or profiling.
• Right to lodge a complaint - You have the right to lodge a complaint before the National Privacy Commission.

12. Contact Us

If you have questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: +63 (2) 8888-7777
• Address: 123 Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Metro Manila 1634, Philippines