Privacy Policy

Last updated April 25, 2024

Introduction

Simera LLC (“Simera”, “us”, “we”, “our”) provides this Privacy Policy to describe our policies and procedures regarding the collection, retention, usage, and disclosure of your information through www.simera.io (the “Site”), and any other related applications, software, or other online services (collectively with the Site the “Platform”).

Simera sources and matches remote workers from around the world (“Candidates”) with businesses who need or are interested in the Candidates’ services (“Clients”). The tools and offerings provided via the Platform are referred to as the “Service” or “Services” for this policy. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully because the information we receive and how it is used varies based on our relationship with you.

BY VOLUNTARILY PROVIDING US WITH PERSONAL DATA, YOU ARE CONSENTING TO OUR USE OF IT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS PRIVACY POLICY. IF YOU PROVIDE PERSONAL DATA, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT SUCH PERSONAL DATA MAY BE TRANSFERRED FROM YOUR CURRENT LOCATION TO THE OFFICES AND SERVERS OF SIMERA LLC AND THE AUTHORIZED THIRD PARTIES REFERRED TO HEREIN.

Scope

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, retain, and use information (“Personal Information”) about Candidates, Clients, Site visitors, and others in accordance with applicable data protection laws and regulations.

Information We Collect and Use

The Information we receive and how we use it depends on our relationship with you. The following sections explain our data practices based on user type.

Information We Collect From Candidates

We collect information from Candidates throughout your time in the Platform. We may ask you to provide the following:

Information You Give Us

To create an account, we may ask you to provide personally identifying information (“PII”) about yourself including your full name, email address, phone number, mailing address, country of residence, your CV, photo, work experience, government-issued identification, social network information.

We may ask you to provide additional information that is not PII including your skills, the language(s) you speak and degree of fluency in each, your time zone, your desired pay rate(s), work experience, examples of work you completed, contact method preferences, and education.

Content Submissions

We may request that you provide us with content in the form of video files, audio files, writing samples, skills assessments, and other files (collectively “Content Submissions”).

Automatically Collected Information

We collect information that your browser sends whenever you visit our Site (“Log Data”). This may include information about your activity on the Service, such as your device’s IP address, device type, operating system, browser type, browser version, device event information, searches and other actions taken, the pages of our Site that you visited, the time and date of your visit, the time you spent on those pages, and other statistics. Simera also collects information through cookies and similar technologies.

Information We Collect From Third Parties

If you link, connect, or login to your Simera account with a third-party service (e.g. Google, LinkedIn), the third-party service may send us information such as your email and profile information from that service. This information varies and is controlled by that service based on your privacy settings at that service.

We may collect information about you from publicly available sources, third-party data providers, or other services. This information will supplement the information you provide us.

We may also receive certain information about you if you are referred to Simera by another user, such as your name, email, or phone number.

We may also receive information from people you listed as references, such as employment date verification, confirmation of duties, job title, and performance information.

Feedback from Clients or Simera Personnel

Clients or Simera personnel may provide information about you by sharing feedback or ratings about their interactions with you, information they found in your profile, or your Content Submissions. If you enter into a contractual relationship with a Client, the Client may provide us information about your performance.

Background Checks

We may request a background check that will collect additional data about you through a third-party service provider. If applicable to you, your express written consent to the collection of such additional data will be solicited at such time, pursuant to all applicable laws.

How We Use Candidate Information

We use your information to provide you and our Clients with quality service and security, to operate the Service and Site, and to fulfill our obligations to you and to develop, improve, and personalize our Service. We will use your information for the following purposes:

Verify your identity and establish your account

We use personal information to verify your identity, establish and set-up your account, verify or re-issue a password, log your activity, enable your communications with Simera personnel and Clients, provide support, and contact you from time to time. Your information enables us to understand and analyze your preferences in order to customize and personalize our service and enhance your experience.

Supplement your profile

The video and audio files you submit may be transcribed, summarized, rated, and scored. Text-based submissions may be summarized, rated, and scored. Content from your CV may be parsed and summarized, and some of the parsed text may get automatically added to your profile.

As part of the Services, we may also record your audio and video calls with us as well as store and process information sent to and from Simera via email and other electronic communication methods. We may collect your voice, image, in-meeting messages, and any other personal data or information you choose to share during such calls. In addition, other participants in a video conference may be able to view your display name, email address, and profile picture. Any third-party software we use for these audio or video calls may also collect and use your personal data. Please review the terms of any third-party site for their specific privacy practices.

Communication

Simera and Clients may use your information to contact you for business purposes including providing support, notifying you about available work opportunities, scheduling interviews, requesting Content Submissions, requesting legal documents and contracts, notifying you about missing or incomplete data, sending you information you requested, or notifying you about administrative changes to our terms, conditions, and policies.

To maintain and display your candidate profile

Every Candidate has a profile on Simera. We show information you provide us (e.g. work history, CVs, skill lists) and data we collect (e.g. Content Submissions, assessments). This information is shared with Clients so that Clients can find and evaluate Candidates for their open work orders.

For marketing and promotional purposes

We may present some of the information you provide (e.g. Content Submissions) on our website, third party websites, in emails, newsletters, and other promotional materials to promote our Service or Site.

Testimonials & success stories

We may reveal your information in testimonials or success stories shared on our Site or third-party sites, social media, or other marketing channels. We will always get your consent prior to publishing anything with your information.

For data analysis purposes

We may use aggregated data and your information to view trends and aid in product development.

As required by law

We may use your personal information if required by law including: (i) to comply with legal obligations and legal process; (ii) responding to requests from public and government authorities including government authorities outside your country of residence; (iii) to enforce our Terms of Service; (iv) to protect our operations; (v) protect our rights, privacy, safety or property, and/or that of you or others; and (vi) to allow us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages that we may sustain.

Platform integrity

We use personal information to monitor, track and prevent illegal, fraudulent and inappropriate activities, monitor content integrity, conduct security investigations and risk assessments, verify or authenticate information provided by you, investigate reports and complaints about users, enforce our Terms of Service and comply with applicable laws. We conduct certain behavioral analytics to achieve the above objectives and in limited cases, if we detect activity that we think poses a risk to the Simera platform, other users, our community, or third parties, automated processes may restrict or limit your ability to use Simera.

Information We Collect From Clients

We collect information from Clients when a Client visits our Sites and begins to use our Services as well as through requests from a Client to engage with a Candidate or Candidates. The information collected includes:

Information You Give Us

We may ask you to provide your name, contact information, job title, company name, company website, business address. We may also collect information about the Client’s needs, including the type of Candidate(s) the Client is looking to engage, the work requirements, the Client’s budget, and other information.

Automatically Collected Information

Information We Collect From Third Parties

We may collect information about you from publicly available sources, third-party data providers, or other services. This information will supplement the information you provide us.

We may also receive certain information about you if you are referred to Simera by another Client, such as your name, email, or phone number.

Credit Checks

We may request a credit check through a third-party service prior to entering into a Professional Services Agreement with you, which will collect additional data about the Client.

How We Use Client Information

We use your information to provide you with quality service and security, to operate the Service and Site, and to fulfill our obligations to you and to develop, improve, and personalize our Service. We will use your information for the following purposes:

Verify your identity and establish your account

We use personal information to verify your identity, establish and set-up your account, verify or re-issue a password, log your activity, enable your communications with Simera, provide support, and contact you from time to time. Your information enables us to understand and analyze your preferences in order to customize and personalize our service and enhance your experience.

To give you Candidate options

The information you provide about the role(s) you are interested in filling, including the pay range, responsibilities, required skills, required experience, estimated number of hours, commissions and bonuses, and desired start dates enable us to identify Candidate options for your consideration.

Communication

Simera may use your information to contact you for business purposes including providing support, notifying you about Candidate options, scheduling interviews, requesting information about your needs, requesting legal documents and contracts, notifying you about missing or incomplete data, sending you information you requested, or notifying you about administrative changes to our terms, conditions, and policies.

To communicate with Candidates

We may show information you provide us (e.g. pay ranges, responsibilities, approximate hours, company name, company website, and other relevant information) to Candidates. This information is shared with Candidates so that Candidates can find and evaluate opportunities and express interest or disinterest.

For marketing and promotional purposes

We may send you promotional materials including emails, newsletters, case studies, success stories, candidate options, other promotional materials to promote our Service or Site.

Testimonials & success stories

For data analysis purposes

We may use aggregated data and your information to view trends and aid in product development.

As required by law

Platform integrity

Information We Collect and Use From Site Visitors

When you interact with Simera through the Site or the Services, we and service providers acting on our behalf will automatically collect information about you through cookies and other technologies.

As a Site Visitor, our servers record information (“Log Data”), including information that your browser automatically sends whenever you visit the Site. This log data includes your Internet Protocol (“IP”) address from which we understand the country you are connecting from at the time you visit the Site, browser type and settings, and the date and time of your request.

We use this automatically collected data for our legitimate interests in maintaining the safe operation of our Site, maintaining our legal obligations and our legitimate interest in learning how Site visitors interact with our Site to improve your use of the Site.

Data Retention

Our policy is to keep your data and information only for as long as is reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected and processed, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, accounting or reporting requirements. If you opted to receive marketing communications from us, we retain information about your marketing preferences until you opt out of receiving these communications and in accordance with our policies.

To determine the appropriate retention period for your Personal Data, we will consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the Personal Data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of your Personal Data, the purposes for which we use your Personal Data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements. In some circumstances we may anonymize your Personal Data so that it can no longer be associated with you, in which case it is no longer Personal Data.

Information Sharing and Disclosure

There are certain circumstances in which we may share your information with certain third parties without further notice to you, as set forth below:

Business Transfers

As we develop our business, we might sell or buy businesses or assets. In the event of a corporate sale, merger, reorganization, dissolution or similar event, Personal Data may be part of the transferred assets.

Related Companies

We may also share your information with our affiliates and related companies for purposes consistent with this Privacy Policy.

Agents, Consultants, Service Providers, and Related Third Parties

Simera may hire or contract other companies to perform certain business-related functions. Examples of such functions include mailing information, maintaining databases, billing and processing payments. When we employ another company to perform a function of this nature, we only provide them with the information that they need to perform their specific function.

Legal Requirements

Simera may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to (i) comply with a legal obligation, (ii) protect and defend the rights or property of Simera, (iii) act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of the Service or the public, or (iv) protect against legal liability.

Links to Other Sites

Our Service may contain links to other websites, applications, and other online services. If you choose to click on a third party link, you will be directed to that third party’s website. The fact that we link to a website is not an endorsement, authorization or representation of our affiliation with that third party, nor is it an endorsement of their privacy or information security policies or practices. We do not exercise control over third party websites. These other websites may place their own cookies or other files on your computer, collect data or solicit Personal Information from you. We encourage you to read the privacy policies or statements of the other websites you visit.

Your Choices

You cannot use the Sites or the Services without providing any Personal Data. If you choose not to provide any Personal data, you may not be able to use certain Services.

Children

Only persons aged 18 or older are authorized to create an account. We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from anyone under the age of 18. If a parent or guardian becomes aware that his or her child (a) under the age of 16 in applicable EU Member Countries, or (b) under the age of 13 in the U.S. and applicable EU Member Countries, has provided us with Personal Data without their consent, he or she should contact privacy@simera.me. We will delete such Personal Information from our files within a commercially reasonable time, but no later than required under the applicable law relating to the child’s country of residence.

GDPR Notice

Scope

This section applies solely to individuals in the United Kingdom and European Union, provided however that reference to the EU also includes certain non-EU countries including, where applicable, Switzerland and the European Economic Area countries of Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. Our Privacy Policy describes why and how Simera collects, uses, and stores your Personal Data, the lawful basis on which your Personal Data is processed, and what your rights and our obligations are in relation to such processing (please see “Your Rights” section below).

Data Controller

Simera is the data controller for processing your Personal Data. The data controller is responsible for deciding how Personal Data about you is used. Please contact us with any questions at privacy@simera.me.

Your Rights

Subject to applicable EU and UK law and where possible, you have the following rights in relation to your Personal Data:

Right of access. You may ask us to confirm whether we are processing your Personal Data and, if so, provide you with a copy of that Personal Data along with certain other details. This may include the purposes of the processing, the categories of Personal Data, the recipients of the Personal Data, the right to lodge a complaint, and available information on the source of the Personal Data. If you require additional copies, we may charge a reasonable fee.
Right to rectification. If your Personal Data is inaccurate or incomplete, you may ask that we erase, amend, or rectify it. If we shared your Personal Data with others, we will tell them about the correction where possible. If you ask us, we will also tell you with whom we shared your Personal Data so you can contact them directly.
Right to erasure. You may ask us to delete or remove your Personal Data in certain circumstances, such as where our processing is based on your consent. We may retain certain information consistent with applicable law, such as to prevent fraud, or where we have a compelling legitimate ground to do so. If we shared your data with others, we will tell them about the erasure where possible. If you ask us, we will also tell you with whom we shared your Personal Data with so you can contact them directly.
Right to restrict processing. You may ask us to restrict or ‘block’ the processing of your Personal Data in certain circumstances. We will tell you before we lift any restriction on processing. If we shared your Personal Data with others, we will tell them about the restriction where possible. If you ask us, we will also tell you with whom we shared your Personal Data so you can contact them directly.
Right to data portability. You may ask to obtain the Personal Data that you consented to give us or that was provided to us as necessary in connection with our contract with you. We will give you your Personal Data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
Right to object. You may ask us at any time to stop processing your Personal Data, and we will do so unless we have a compelling legitimate ground for the processing. We will comply with requests to stop processing your Personal Data as your requests apply to direct marketing.
Rights in relation to automated decision-making and profiling. You have the right to be free from decisions based solely on automated processing of your Personal Data, including profiling, which produce a significant legal effect on you, unless such profiling is necessary for entering into, or the performance of, a contract between you and us, or with your explicit consent. We use automated decision-making to ensure that we comply with various laws and regulations restricting what regions, individuals, and entities we are able to work with. We also use automated decision-making to ensure applications from Freelancers and Job Applicants meet our minimum necessary requirements. You may contact us at privacy@simera.me to obtain an explanation of the decision or for a personal review, if possible.
Right to withdraw consent. If we rely on your consent to process your Personal Data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time, but this will not affect any data that we already processed.
Right to lodge a complaint with the data protection authority. If you have a concern about our privacy practices, including the way we handled your Personal Data, you can report it to the data protection authority that is authorized to hear those concerns.

You may exercise your rights by contacting us by emailing privacy@simera.me.

California

We allow you to choose whether we share your personal information with third parties for their own marketing purposes.

Pursuant to California Civil Code Section 1798.83, California residents who provide us with personal information in obtaining products or services for personal, family, or household use are entitled to request and obtain from us, one time per calendar year, information about the customer information we shared, if any, with other businesses for their own direct marketing uses. Alternatively, the law provides that a company may comply, as Simera does, by disclosing in its privacy policy that it provides consumers choice (opt-in or opt-out) regarding sharing Personal Information with third parties for those third parties’ direct marketing purposes, and information on how to exercise that choice. As stated above in this Privacy Policy, Simera provides you choice prior to sharing your personal information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes. If you do not opt-in or if you choose to opt-out at the time Freelance Labs offers that choice, Freelance Labs does not share your information with that identified third party for its direct marketing purposes.

If you are a California resident and you have questions about our practices with respect to sharing information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes and your ability to exercise choice, please contact us using the contact information below.

You must put the statement “Your California Privacy Rights” in the subject field of your email. You must include your name, street address, city, state, and ZIP code. We will respond to you via email. We are not responsible for notices that are not labeled or sent properly, or do not have complete information.

Changes to This Policy

Simera may update this Privacy Policy at any time and any changes will be effective upon posting. In the event that there are material changes to the way we treat your Personal Information, we will display a notice through the Services prior to the change becoming effective. We may also notify you by email, at our discretion. However, we will use your Personal Information in a manner consistent with the Privacy Policy in effect at the time you submitted the information, unless you consent to the new or revised policy. Express consent to collection and use practices will be obtained when required by applicable law.

Contacting Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at privacy@simera.me.