Last updated: 29 May, 2023

Privacy Notice (Sumsub Service)

Preamble

This is the Privacy Notice of the Sumsub group of companies: Sum and Substance Ltd., incorporated and registered in England with company number 09688671 (after – Sumsub or we) together with all affiliated companies and trading divisions, irrespective of location or jurisdiction (hereinafter - Sumsub or we). More information about our group can be found in Provision 16 of this Privacy Notice.

Sumsub processes personal data in the course of service provision to its Clients according to their instructions. The client is the Controller that determines the purpose of data processing, exercises control over the User’s personal data, and stipulates the retention period of the User’s data according to its purposes. Sumsub, in turn, is a Processor that conducts only those data processing activities that the client requests. For clarity, Sumsub performs remote identity verification procedures for the client as part of service provision. Before passing such procedures, the User consents to such processing or is properly notified by the client in line with the client’s Privacy Policy.

When developing and improving Services as a matter of public interest and other cases specified in this Privacy Notice, Sumsub is the Controller of Users' personal data.

1. Scope

This Privacy Notice outlines how we process personal data, commit to protecting your information, and provide the framework through which effective management of data protection matters can be achieved while providing our Services. This Privacy Notice does not cover how Sumsub Clients may treat Users' personal data. Clients provide this information in their privacy statements which are not subject to Sumsub's control.

If you are a California resident, you may find information about the CCPA application in Provision 18 of this Notice.

If you are a resident of Illinois, Washington, or Texas, it is necessary to refer to the “Special notice to residents of the states of Illinois, Washington, or Texas (USA)” (Provision 19 of this Privacy Notice). In case of any conflict or ambiguity between the Special Notice and the other provisions of this Privacy Notice, the former will prevail.

2. Definitions

  • Agreement

    the Service Provider Agreement concluded with each Client, its annexes and appendices;

  • Client

    the legal entity to which Sumsub provides Services under the Agreement;

  • Service(s)

    the personal identity verification service and connected services provided by Sumsub;

  • Data Controller, or Controller

    the Client where it, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data by written instruction for processing activities given to Sumsub;

  • Data Processor, or Processor

    Sumsub where it processes personal data on behalf of a Data Controller;

  • Third-Party Processors

    processors authorised to exercise certain processing activities under the direct authority of Sumsub;

  • Data Providers

    third-party service providers or public authorities used to collect additional information necessary for the provision of the Services;

  • Data Subject

    any individual (hereafter - User) whose personal data Sumsub may process on behalf of the Controller (the Client’s customers);

  • Personal data

    any information relating to an identified or identifiable Data Subject;

  • Special categories of personal data

    personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, or data concerning health or data concerning a natural person's sex life or sexual orientation;

  • Data concerning health

    personal data related to the physical or mental health of a natural person, including the provision of health care services, which reveal information about his or her health status;

  • Filing system

    any structured set of personal data which is accessible according to specific criteria, whether centralised, decentralised, or dispersed on a functional or geographical basis used for service provision;

  • User

    any individual in respect of whom the identity verification procedure (or any of its elements) is performed as part of the Services provided to a Client (may be referred to as ‘you’ in this Notice);

  • Website

    sumsub.com;

  • Processing

    any operation or set of operations performed on personal data or on sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction;

  • Personal data breach

    a breach of data security leading to unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, personal data transmitted, stored, or otherwise processed;

  • Consent

    any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the Data Subject’s wishes by which they, by a statement or by clear affirmative action, signify agreement to the processing of their personal data;

  • Livechat

    a system that allows Users to have a real-time interaction with Sumsub’s support team in a chatbox on the Website page in the browser;

  • Customer due diligence procedure

    the process and rules established by the Client in line with applicable regulations, including the requirements for identifying its customers, related risks and checking they are who they say they are (may be referred to as ‘KYC’ in this Notice);

  • Standard Contractual Clauses

    standard sets of contractual terms and conditions adopted by the European Commission (or UK-designated authorities) and ensuring appropriate safeguards for data transfers from the EEA and the UK to third countries, which the Controller and the Processor both sign up to, where necessary;

  • EEA

    European Economic Area (the European Union Member States, Norway, Iceland and, Liechtenstein);

  • AML/CFT

    Anti-Money Laundering / Combating the Financing of Terrorism legal rules and standards as envisaged in FATF recommendations, EU regulations, and national legislation;

  • Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs)

    individuals who are or have been entrusted with prominent public functions (e.g., heads of state or government, senior politicians, senior government, judicial or military officials, senior executives of state-owned corporations, important political party officials), as well as their relatives and close associates;

  • CCPA

    the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, Civil Code sections 1798.100.

3. Principles of personal data processing that Sumsub adheres to

Sumsub adheres to the principles of personal data protection as envisaged in the EU GDPR and the UK GDPR. In accordance with these principles, Sumsub assists the Controller in ensuring that the User’s personal data is:

  1. Processed fairly and lawfully and in a transparent manner in relation to the Data Subject;
  2. Processed for specified, explicit, and legitimate purposes only and not further processed in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes;
  3. Adequate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed;
  4. Kept accurate and up to date;
  5. Retained in a form permitting identification of Data Subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which they are processed;
  6. Processed in a manner that ensures their appropriate security;
  7. Not transferred outside the European Economic Area (EEA) or the UK without adequate protection.

4. Purposes of personal data processing

[а] Performance of the Agreement

While serving Clients, Sumsub mainly processes your data as a Processor for the Client's benefit. Sumsub processes personal data for the performance of the Agreements, including indicated services, obligations arising from the Agreement, and related rights, as well as for the execution of rights and fulfilment of obligations deriving from legal acts and processing Users' requests.

Sumsub collects and further processes Users' data for the Client, which may include matters of compliance with applicable AML/CFT and/or other laws and regulations and/or the Client's internal customer due diligence procedures. Once personal data is no longer necessary for the relevant purpose, Sumsub erases it from its servers upon the Client's written instruction without leaving any backup copies after transferring it to the Client.

[b] Other purposes

We may process your data for purposes that serve Sumsub's legitimate interests, which include the following purposes:

  • Where it’s not prohibited by applicable laws and provided we have permission from our Clients, we may process some personal data, including biometrics, to develop and improve identity verification services to prevent and detect fraud and other illicit activity as part of substantial public interest via machine learning. For more information, please refer to Provision 5 (Service Development);
  • Given the nature of our Services, we are to detect and prevent criminal activity, fraud, and money laundering by checking the provided User data against records of confirmed or suspected illegal activity, fraud or money laundering. If any sign of this appears, we will inform our Clients of this. For more information, please refer to Provision 5 (Fraud detection);
  • In connection with the purpose above, we may also conduct profiling, statistical analysis, and analytics in AML/CFT tendency, fraud detection, and prevention. The System may aggregate the User's data with other Users' data to generate reports and charts our Clients may use when assuming the risk likelihood associated with specific characteristics;
  • We sometimes may be obliged to process or retain all or part of personal data for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims;
  • We process some personal data while adhering to the principles of personal data handling, namely lawfulness and accountability, by obtaining the legal basis for processing specific personal data concerning certain Users, as required under laws applicable to such Users. Obtaining and maintaining records that we have obtained on such a legal basis is essential to prove that we comply and adhere to our legal obligations outside and in the European Union and the United Kingdom.

5. Data processing activities

Sumsub provides multiple types of automated processing, including, but not limited to, collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination (if so legally binding), or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction.

• Document сheck

For fraud detection, Sumsub subjects personal data from photos and scanned copies of documents to automated reading and verification of authenticity by conducting different checks, such as completeness of records, screenshots detection, or cross-checking of all data from all submitted documents (e.g., name, date, and place of birth, signature). We also check the document's security features, including the embedded security chip, machine-readable zone (MRZ), barcodes, QR codes and other security components used for genuine data validation. The Sumsub system analyses the results of the above to make an inference regarding the document’s trustworthiness.

• Biometric processing methods

Sumsub may process biometrics to verify whether provided facial images are likely to match depending on the service chosen by a particular Client. The processing of biometrics means extracting facial features from uploaded or recorded facial images on government-issued identity documents submitted by the User and comparing them. We store this biometric data for a period our Client instructs.

There are several reasons why Clients ask for such biometrics processing. Generally, Clients may wish to check whether an identity document genuinely belongs to the User by comparing a provided facial image to the facial image contained in the identity document.

In addition, Clients may ask us to check whether a User is alive and genuine. To do this, we use our Liveness check to determine if the User isn’t holding a mobile phone, showing any signs of constraint, or attempting to defraud the system using emulators, static images, or ‘deep fakes’. As a rule, the User is prompted to blink, smile, or move their device while passing Liveness. During such checks, we may also detect signs of fraud or other spoofing attacks by comparing the User's facial features to those of known masks. Simultaneously, we may also check whether the User may be generating multiple identities by inspecting whether we have previously verified him/her on behalf of a particular Client. To determine if the User is known to a specific Client, we compare the User's facial image to the facial images of other Users previously verified on behalf of that particular Client.

When required by the Client, we assist in the authentication process. For this, the Client may ask the User to pass liveness. During this process, the User’s face is recognized, and the result is compared with the biometric data records of the said User obtained previously.

For each authentication attempt, we will compare the new liveness facial image with the biometrics of the said User obtained previously.

• Video identification processing

Usually, video identification is a process where the person who is to be identified and the employee-operator sit opposite one another "face to face" in video transmission and communicate with one another. The process is carried out if the Client has a legal obligation to do so (for example, due to AML / CFT regulation). To perform video identification, we provide the Client with functionality so that they can conduct a video interview with Users during onboarding. If the Client prefers, the video identification interview can be provided by Sumsub operators. The content of the video interview and its nature are also completely dependent on the Client’s requirements.

• Data validation

These data validation checks enable Clients to verify data against databases of third-party data providers and detect whether the User is involved in illicit activities, money laundering or terrorism financing. To do this, we will check the data extracted from the uploaded documents or provided by the User against a database of third-party data providers. The data providers we may use depend on the Client’s needs and the User’s location and may include ID registers, proof of address checks, the Social Security Administration and other government or commercial sources and databases, consumer credit agencies, PEP lists, global and country-specific sanctions lists, and adverse media sources.

Throughout the course of the Client’s relationship with the User, we may assist the Client in periodically screening the User’s data against databases to help prevent, detect, and investigate fraud and money laundering.

Sometimes Clients ask us to conduct phone or email risk scoring. When we do it, we screen User’s email address or phone number with the combination of IP address, where available, together with the publicly available information provided by the third-party processors or data providers, based on the data mentioned above and get the risk labels based on its registrations on the web, domain name, delivery option and other parameters.

• Know Your Transaction or KYT check

KYT or “Know Your Transaction” is a check that analyses transaction data relating to senders and recipients. It enables Clients to detect and report unusual/uncharacteristic behaviour and patterns that are characteristic of money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud, or other illicit activity.

• Know Your Business or KYB check

If the Client subscribes to the KYB check, it requires us to verify the existence, details, ownership, and control structure (e.g., ultimate beneficial owner(s)) of a legal entity through analysis of corporate documents and review of corporate registries, where available.

• Crypto Travel Rule Solution

The Client may order this check for compliance with their legal obligations under the AML/CFT legislation. This mandates the Virtual Asset Service Provider, or VASP, which could be our Client, to obtain, verify, hold and exchange the particular transaction sender and recipient information with their counterparty VASPs during or before the transaction. When carrying out this check, we verify the user's identity and transfer to/ receive from the Client's counterparty VASP particular user's data using special messaging protocols, such as Travel Rule Protocol (TRP), Sumsub API protocol, and platforms providing encrypted messages and data flows.

• Fraud detection

Sumsub implements a fraud detection and control network based on the anti-fraud checks required by our Clients and those included in our Services by default (e.g., Photoshop use or risk triggers calculation). Such checks require collecting, analysing, and re-using recorded User data.

Generally, Sumsub verifies whether the User’s attributes—geolocation (IP address), device signature (operating system and camera name), email address, or mobile phone—have previously been involved in or related to any fraudulent activity or may currently signal suspicious behaviour patterns and otherwise point out that the User is fake. At the Client’s order, we may check information with our Data Providers on AML/CFT regulations requirements, such as screening through adverse media mentions match or checking for residency in high-risk countries. Besides, we check whether the User creates multiple identities by inspecting whether we have previously verified a User on behalf of a particular Client using biometric data comparison techniques.

All these checks are designed to help us and Clients assess the likelihood of customer trustworthiness, flag potentially fraudulent activities and assign a relevant risk score when the Client needs to acknowledge cases when Users generate multiple identities, compromise their data, or manipulate device or network information. The Client may consult with the fraud detection and control network on the fraud-related level of risk of the User under the onboarding process without accessing any personal data.

• Automated decision-making relief and checks

We conduct identity verification checks on behalf of the Client, however, we do not make any final decisions. Our role is to provide the Client with reports containing information about the identity verification process and results (with the reasoning behind them reflecting the level of fraud or another risk if any. The reasons are derived from the work of our system and its algorithms, including those based on a symbiosis of machine learning models and human supervision and intervention. The final decision on User onboarding is made by a human on the Client’s side when the checks' result is transmitted to the particular Client. The Clients consider this information while deciding to accept or decline a User application, request further checks, or continue to service that User following their risk assessment and investigations.

The checks are either automated, semi-automated, or done by humans. When we carry out checks, we implement a complicated verification system that includes human presence and machine work. A human will be involved if the system cannot reach a verdict on its own or recheck the system verdict. Such may occur when the data is uncertain or the system faces some other difficulty in analysing information during the verification session. Thus, we contribute to ensuring that the verification process is fair and safe for Users.

Certain Sumsub checks may be fully automated due to simplicity, using machine learning, or the Client's request. When Clients use check results to make final decisions regarding Users undergoing verification, the final decision-making process may or may not be automated by the Client. When the Client makes automated decisions, including those based on our check results, they shall inform you of the legal grounds and, if necessary, obtain your consent. Any User can appeal automated decisions by going through the methods provided on the Client's side.

As a service provider, we may have different verification steps for some Clients which require full supervision by a human.

When you've passed verification successfully.

All required checks have been successfully completed. This means that the data you've provided is genuine and compliant with the requirements of the particular Client and approved by them. Now you are allowed to use the service for which you were passing the verification process.

When you cannot pass verification successfully.

Some of the checks need to be more precise. It means that some of the data provided by Users do not comply with the Client's requirements by posing some risk or seeming potentially suspicious or fraudulent (e.g., the device you took the photo from is different from that you passed the whole verification process or the data presented are inconsistent). In this case, we return results to the Client for further consideration by tagging them with the relevant theme (e.g., 'WRONG_ADDRESS' or 'INCOMPLETE_DOCUMENT'). Then, the service for which you passed the verification check will consider and evaluate the results and ask for additional information from you to clarify your application. The Client may reject or freeze your application following its risk procedures or other internal policies.

• Service development

Our Clients use our services to detect whether a real person is passing the identity verification process, as well as any impersonation or spoofing attempts, to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud, and other activities that are considered a matter of public interest. That is why we, as a service provider, are responsible for providing the highest quality services. For this reason, where we have the authorisation of our Clients, and it is not prohibited by applicable law, we as a data controller use personal data to develop and improve our services by building and enhancing algorithms and developing and testing new verification options, products and services to verify a User's identity better and detect fraud.

We do this in two ways. We deploy a system of recognising specific patterns in the information and making predictions about new data sets based on those patterns by training our computers or so-called 'machine learning.’ Machine learning helps create models based on the information provided by the Users, such as signs of potential fake data, and selects the best models to be integrated into our system. The development of services also includes continuous improvement and assessment. We review our service delivery methods to ensure that we comply with Clients’ requirements and work appropriately by testing and correcting new features and functions. We implement initial and ongoing training for our human analysts to perform those tasks to prevent machine learning models' automatic judgement. It is also beneficial while machine learning models are in the stage of development and aren't adequately suited to perform such tasks.

• Reusable KYC

In this model, our Clients may partner with each other to simplify and speed up verification for mutual Users that have already passed KYC once via Sumsub. For this, Clients ask Sumsub to create a data flow that exchanges previously verified Sumsub KYC data between two different services. Sumsub provides such functionality only after confirmation that these Clients have all necessary legal arrangements. Before sharing the data, the User is asked for consent to such actions.

6. Types of personal data processed by Sumsub

We may collect and further process the following personal data of Users depending on the particular Service being provided to the Client:

  • Categories of personal data

    Examples

  • General personal data

    Full name, sex, personal identification code or number, date of birth, legal capacity, nationality and citizenship, location (street, city, country, and postcode).

  • Identity document data

    Document type, issuing country, number, expiry date, MRZ, information embedded into document barcodes (may vary depending on the document), security features.

  • Facial image data

    Photos of the face (including selfie images) and photos or scans of the face on the identification document, videos, and sound recordings.

  • Biometrical data

    Facial features.

  • Banking details

    Cardholder name, expiry date, first 6 and last 4 digits of the card number.

  • Contact details

    Address, e-mail address, and phone number.

  • Transaction data

    Full name of the sender and the recipient, the address of the sender and the recipient, and the Unique identifier of the counterparties provided by Sumsub and the particular Client.

  • Crypto transactions data (Crypto Travel Rule Solution)

    Full name of the sender and the recipient, the physical (geographical) address of the sender, or national identity number, or customer identification number (i.e., not a transaction number) that uniquely identifies the originator to the ordering institution, or date and place of birth, recipient account number (e.g., wallet address).

  • Technical data

    Information regarding the date, time, and activity in the Services; IP address and domain name; software and hardware attributes (e.g., camera name and type); general geographic location (e.g., city, country) from User’s device.

  • Geolocation data

    IP address

  • Unique identifier

    Applicant ID created only for identifying the User in the Sumsub system

  • Relevant publicly available data

    Information regarding a person’s status as a Politically Exposed Person (PEP) or presence on sanctions lists.

  • Additional information

    Data provided by the User during communication with Sumsub (e.g., requests, reports).

7. Processing children’s personal data

Sumsub may process the personal data of children, understood as individuals under the age of majority under the national laws of the Client’s country of incorporation, only when the Client ensures that the person with parental responsibility for the child has consented to such processing. Otherwise, if a child’s personal data is accidentally submitted to Sumsub, it will be deleted without undue delay.

8. The lawfulness of personal data processing

When Sumsub is engaged by its Clients to perform identity verification procedures in respect of their Users, the processing of personal data by Sumsub is covered by those legal grounds that are relied on by certain Clients Sumsub has the Agreement with. In line with Article 6 of the EU and UK GDPR, Controllers should rely on an appropriate legal ground when processing personal data. Most of our Clients rely on the following grounds for processing personal data:

  • Article 6(1)(c) of the GDPR: “[personal data] processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject”;
  • Article 6(1)(e) of the GDPR: “[personal data] processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest”;
  • Article 6 (1)(a) of the GDPR: “the data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data for one or more specific purposes”.

We may process your sensitive data if the Client has a reasonable legal ground for such processing.

Where Sumsub pursues its purposes, as said in Provision 4 of this Notice, Sumsub relies on Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR – legitimate interest. Our legitimate interest arises from the strict necessity of internal analysis and ongoing development and improvement of Sumsub's services that our Clients use to detect fraud and illicit activities to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud, and other activities, which are considered a matter of substantial public interest. In this case, we use legitimate interest if the Client grants us permission to process data provided that Sumsub's purposes are compatible with those initial purposes for which the personal data has been collected. Such purposes are compatible due to the obligations or interests of our Client regarding the combat of fraud and detection of any illegal actions.

Sumsub may be under a 'litigation holds' requirement, such as an existing legal claim, juridical procedure, or other legal obligation. In this case, Sumsub applies the legal ground specified in Article 6(1)(c) of the GDPR, which states that processing personal data is necessary to comply with a legal obligation to which Sumsub is subject.

9. Personal data retention period

The retention period depends entirely on the processing purpose. Our Clients define how long personal data should be stored and when to delete it. Generally, in line with AML / CFT regulations, regulated financial companies are obliged to store the User's data for five years after the termination of the Client’s relationship with the User or the date of the occasional transaction. In some jurisdictions, there may be a longer mandatory data retention period.

Please note that if you, as a User, would like to make a request to delete the personal data that you have provided for the purpose of a particular Client, please make that request directly to the Client that controls your verification process. For more information about how to do this, please see Provision 10.

In general, personal data, including biometric data, will be retained and stored by Sumsub and will be permanently destroyed based on the Client’s instructions when the Client’s initial purpose and/or retention period prescribed by applicable law expires.

Where Sumsub independently defines the compatible purposes or under the legal obligation, the personal data, including biometric data, will be destroyed after Sumsub’s purposes for collecting the biometric data have been satisfied (and one (1) year of the date the purpose for collecting the data expires for residents of Texas) or after five (5) years from the provision of data to the Sumsub system, whichever occurs first. For the residents of Illinois, the retention period of personal data, including biometric data, will be three (3) years from the date of data provision to the Sumsub system.

Disposal and Destruction Policy

Any personal data is deleted only after (a) obtaining the applicant's data deletion request in line with corresponding procedures by the Client or the Data Subject or (b) the satisfaction of the purpose for data processing, including expiration of retention period prescribed by applicable law.

To delete data from the Sumsub Identity Verification System (Dashboard and storage space), we call a method that searches for a unique applicant identifier (Applicant ID) inside the database. The database contains references, or object IDs, connected to the applicant’s personal data provided to the system. After seeking all these references, the Dashboard system automatically removes them one by one by calling the AWS S3 API Object Deletion method providing Object IDs are placed in the S3 bucket. After all referenced objects are found and deleted from the S3 bucket, the original applicant's personal data is also deleted from Sumsub’s internal database located on AWS Servers. The deletion of biometrics should render it non-recoverable, even using forensic information recovery techniques.

To delete data from the equipment, we implement measures in accordance with the particular Operational System of the equipment. If the information is intended to be rendered non-recoverable, the deletion must be executed by the person who owns it (typically, who has created it) by the ‘empty trash bucket’ mechanism. If any of the methods above is not secure enough considering the sensitivity of the information and such information may be recovered again, the equipment storage medium must be destroyed completely (e.g. shredded, disintegrated, pulverised, or incinerated by burning the device in a licensed incinerator, etc.) in the presence of the Asset Owner.

To delete data from the files located in the removable media, we call the setting and tools designated to the relevant sanitisation method - clearing or purging. If the purging method is not secure enough considering the sensitivity of the information and such information may be recovered again, the removable media containing such information must be destroyed completely (e.g. shredded, crushed, disintegrated, pulverised, or incinerated by burning the device in a licensed incinerator, etc.).

To delete data from mobile devices, we use the means of a particular device. If a certain mobile device is intended to be reused/recycled/donated or is no longer to be used by the Sumsub staff, this staff member must reset the device to the original settings. As a general rule, the procedure for Apple iPhone and iPad OS: Select 'Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings menu. For Android OS devices: Select ‘Settings > Backup & Reset > Factory Data Reset > Reset Phone’.

It’s forbidden to handle any sensitive data in any equipment, removable media or mobile devices.

Any request to delete all or any personal data related to a User is fulfilled within 30 days. This period is justified by the complexity of the systems and technologies Sumsub operates to process the data.

Users’ personal data may be retained for up to 90 days (from the Client’s request for data deletion) to comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request and investigation; to assert legal rights or defend against legal claims; or to prevent, detect, or investigate illegal activity, fraud, abuse, violations of the Client’s or Sumsub’s terms of service, or threats to the security of the Services or the physical safety of any person. Sumsub will delete such personal data of the affected User when no longer legally obligated or reasonably required to retain it.

When the processing purposes differ from those specified above, Sumsub maintains the following retention period considering the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal data and the purposes for which we’re permitted to process it.

When we develop and improve identity verification services to prevent and detect fraud and other illicit activity, we will keep the personal data in a pseudonymised format for the period required to calibrate and select the perfect algorithm and model for the detection of fraud and other illicit activity. We may also have to store some records that have been confirmed as relating to fraudulent applications or accounts or obtaining and maintaining records to prove our compliance with legal obligations in and outside the EU and the UK. For example, regarding consent activity log history, the retention period is defined by the criteria derived from requirements by law regarding limitation periods, other applicable regulatory requirements, contractual provisions and industry standards.

When the purpose refers to the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims (so-called ‘litigation hold’), the retention period is limited to the duration of such proceedings in a specific case or circumstance.

In any case, we do not keep your data longer than we have a lawful basis for doing so.

10. Data Subjects’ rights

Upon written request from the Client, Sumsub assists the Client in exercising the Data Subject’s rights. According to privacy laws, you have the right:

  • to obtain confirmation as to whether or not your personal data are being processed;
  • to rectify personal data, or, in other words, to correct the wrong information or complete it;
  • to erase personal data, or “right to be forgotten”. Please note that this right is not absolute and applies only if (i) your personal data is no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which was collected or otherwise processed, (ii) you object to the processing, and there are no overriding legitimate grounds for the processing of Client; (iii) the personal data have been unlawfully processed;
  • to restrict personal data processing where (i) the accuracy of the personal data is contested (during the period when the Client is able to verify its accuracy); (ii) the processing is unlawful, and you object to the erasure of the personal data and request to restrict their use instead; (iii) the Client no longer needs the personal data for the purposes of the processing, but they are required by you to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; (iv) you have objected to processing pending the verification whether Client’s legitimate grounds override those of yours;
  • to be informed as to rectification or erasure of personal data or restriction of their processing;
  • to data portability, or, in other words, to receive your personal data in an appropriate format to be able to provide it to another party or transfer your personal data from one controller to another;
  • to object to personal data processing if the processing is justified by the ‘public interest’ or ‘legitimate interest’ legal grounds as set out in points (e) and (f) of Article 6(1) of the GDPR;
  • not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing unless (i) such decision is necessary for entering into, or performance of, a contract between you and the data controller; (ii) such decision is authorised by the law to which the data controller is subject and which also lays down suitable measures to safeguard your rights and freedoms and legitimate interests or (iii) such decision is based on your explicit consent;
  • to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority. When it is related to the processing activities of our Clients (the service you were verified for), please refer to the methods specified in their privacy policies. When it relates to the processing activity of Sumsub (please check it here), you can use the following ways: If you're a resident of the UK, please follow this link. If you're a resident of the EU, please follow this link.

To ask Sumsub to execute the rights mentioned above or redirect the request to the Client, you should send a free-form email to [email protected] or use this form. The information on actions taken in response to any request is provided to you within one month. That period may be extended by two further months where necessary, considering the complexity and number of the requests. In this case, we will inform you of any such extension within one month of receipt of the request, together with the reasons for the delay.

Please be kindly aware that when you ask us for the execution of the rights as stated above, we may have to take steps to verify that you are the legitimate data owner and/or authorised to make the request due to the Client's request or our own legal obligation.

Sumsub guarantees that making a request for receiving personal data is free unless a reasonable cost is to be charged where requests are unfounded or excessive, or repetitive in character.

11. Withdrawing consent and objection to legitimate interest mechanism

Sumsub assists the Controllers (Clients) with the obligation of providing the mechanism for withdrawal of consent (Article 7 (3) EU GDPR and UK GDPR) and objection to processing based on legitimate interests (Article 21 (1) EU GDPR and UK GDPR).

Depending on the legal basis of processing that the Client relies on (consent or legitimate interest), the right to withdraw consent or the right to the object of processing can be exercised.

Sumsub does not make decisions regarding such requests on its own, as Sumsub acts in accordance with the written instructions of the Client, who exercises control over personal data. Sumsub can only redirect the User’s request to the Client for whom the User was verified.

To withdraw consent or object to the legitimate interest of Sumsub, you can use this link to form your request. Please note that to request a restriction or objection to processing, there should be overriding grounds to those we have under the legitimate interest. We underline that due to the importance of identity verification and fraud prevention to the world's financial system - so-called public interest - for which the personal data checks are carried out, it will be rare that we have no compelling, overriding grounds to continue using the personal data following a restriction or objection. Generally, under the given circumstances, there are better options than to terminate the processing of personal data under the restriction or objection request. For example, it would be unfair to hide the result of previous fraudulent patterns that could allow a person to steal money from the account by pretending to be another person.

12. Responsibilities

[a] Sumsub’s responsibilities, and the DPO

Sumsub is responsible for establishing policies and procedures in order to comply with the EU GDPR and the UK GDPR. Our Data Protection Officer can be contacted via the following e-mail address: [email protected].

[b] Sumsub DPO’s responsibilities

Sumsub’s Data Protection Officer holds responsibility for

  • drawing up guidance and promoting compliance with this Privacy Notice;
  • appropriate compliance with the EU GDPR, UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018;
  • ensuring that any personal data breaches are resolved, catalogued and reported appropriately in a swift manner;
  • investigating and responding to complaints regarding data protection, including Data Subject’s requests.

[c] Sumsub’s personnel responsibilities

Sumsub personnel involved in personal data processing comply with the requirements of this Privacy Notice and other internal rules. This personnel ensures that:

  • all personal data is kept securely;
  • no personal data is disclosed either verbally or in writing, accidentally or otherwise, to any unauthorised third party;
  • any queries, requests and complaints regarding data protection are promptly directed to the Data Protection Officer;
  • any data protection breaches are swiftly brought to the attention of the Management and the Data Protection Officer;
  • where there is uncertainty regarding a data protection matter, advice is sought from the Data Protection Officer.

[d] Third-Party Processors acting on behalf of Sumsub

Where third-party companies are engaged to process personal data on behalf of Sumsub, responsibility for the security and appropriate use of the data remains with Sumsub.

Before engaging a Third-Party Processor, Sumsub ensures that it provides sufficient guarantees as regards personal data security. In particular, a written contract establishing the types of personal data to be processed and the purposes of such processing, as well as containing provisions on personal data protection, are concluded between Sumsub and the Third-Party Processor.

13. Specific measures to ensure data protection

Sumsub takes specific measures to ensure personal data protection, including, but not limited to, the following:

  • where applicable, all personal data processing is conditioned on respective Agreements, non-disclosure agreements, and data processing agreements compliant with the EU GDPR and the UK GDPR;
  • Sumsub’s specially designed API interface (iFrame) enables Data Subjects to submit personal data directly to Sumsub’s secure servers;
  • all personal data is always securely stored on the servers located in safe European data centres of a security level no lower than Tier 31;
  • all personal data is subjected to encryption;
  • personnel involved in personal data processing is officially authorised and undergoes background checks, where it is obligatory, and regular training;
  • Sumsub regularly carries out internal and external data protection and information security audits and vulnerability assessments. In particular, compliance with the EU GDPR and the UK GDPR requirements, ISO/IEC 27001, 27017 and 27018, SOC 2 Type 2, and PCI DSS has been demonstrated. Visit our Security and Compliance section for more information.);
  • where the processing of certain personal data (e.g., children’s personal data or sensitive data under certain data protection laws) would be unlawful, Sumsub takes all possible measures to identify and delete or, where appropriate, encrypt such data immediately upon its submission;
  • physical, software and network security guarantees as set out below are implemented.

1 At present, all personal data is stored and processed on specially designated servers in Germany. When localization of data in a certain region is required by law, Sumsub provides such an opportunity, where possible, based on the contract/Client request (e.g., the Personal Data of Bahrain residents is stored in the Bahrain region).

Suppose certain types of personal data, such as the Dutch BSN, Korean RRN, Japanese My number card and related sensitive data, or Singaporean NRIC number, as well as other country-specific requirements, are under special protection regimes (if any). In those cases, Sumsub will take the necessary measures not to process such data, such as requesting the User to cover data with a sticker or processing restrictions using blurring technology, unless the respective Client has the legal basis for processing it freely.

14. Personal data breaches

Where a personal data breach occurs or is suspected, it is reported immediately to the Data Protection Officer (DPO) or the Director and, where applicable, to the data protection authority, the respective Client and, if applicable, to the individual affected by the breach. The report includes full and accurate details of the incident (including its reasons and magnitude) and sets out the planned measures intended to eliminate the breach.

The report is provided directly to the concerned Client, and further breach mitigation is supported.

15. Data disclosure

[a] Third Parties

If the Client agrees, Sumsub may have to apply third parties for data processing activities, which include the following categories:

  • Third-party processors as reasonably necessary for the provision of a service under the Agreement with a respective Client;
  • Data providers when it is supposed to be used for the provision of Service under the Agreement with a respective Client; and
  • Sumsub Group of companies for assistance in service delivery and Sumsub EU representative for granting the opportunity to Data Subjects and Supervisory authority to address Sumsub within EU borders for the purposes of Article 27 of the EU GDPR.

Sumsub requires the Third Parties to respect the security of personal data and treat it according to the applicable law. In addition, Third Parties are mostly limited to only accessing or using personal data to provide services to Sumsub and must provide reasonable assurances they will appropriately safeguard the data in line with Provision 13[d] of this Notice.

[b] Recipients

Where it is required by law, Sumsub may have to provide personal data to the Recipients, which includes the following categories:

  • Governmental bodies and regulatory authorities, judicial bodies, investigation bodies, sworn bailiffs, and notaries based on written and concrete requests or the duties binding upon Sumsub or its Clients stipulated by the legal enactments. Such sharing is conducted in line with strict compliance with derogations of the EU GDPR and the UK GDPR; and
  • Any other Clients provided that there is a legitimate interest or any other legal reason for doing so, obtained consent or where Sumsub has been instructed to share the information on behalf of our Clients as specified above.

16. Sumsub group of companies and the EU Representative

Sumsub is a group of companies established as a network of the following legal entities operating worldwide. The Sumsub services are provided by the operating company, Sum and Substance Ltd. (registered in England and Wales under company number 09688671), which acts for and on behalf of itself and the other members of the Sumsub group of companies. The following entities constitute the Sumsub group of companies:

  • The UK: Sum and Substance Ltd
  • Germany: Sumsub GmbH
  • Cyprus: SUMSUB Tech Limited, SUMSUB LTD, Raritex Trade Ltd.
  • The USA: Sumsub Inc

The Sumsub EU representative is SUMSUB LTD - incorporated and registered in Cyprus with company number HE 405087.

17. International data transfers

Sumsub confirms that all personal data is submitted by Data Subjects Sumsub’s servers located in the EU and/or subject to any national localisation requirements in the respective countries where such requirements exist. The Client may choose the location of personal data processing (including storage) to comply with the applicable laws.

Where it is necessary for service provision or to ensure convenient and reliable communication with the Data Subjects, Sumsub transfers personal data outside of the EU/EEA, or the UK to the Third-Parties and Recipients indicated in Provision 16 of this Notice.

Whenever a transfer of personal data outside the EU or the EEA is carried out, Sumsub implements appropriate safeguards as set out in Chapter V of the EU GDPR by transferring on the basis of the EU Adequacy Decision (or UK Adequacy Regulations) and by concluding Standard Contractual Clauses with the Controller. Third-Party Processors likewise rely on appropriate safeguards, which include Binding Corporate Rules, Standard Contractual Clauses, etc. Cross-border personal data transfers from the UK to the EU/EEA countries are permitted by the UK Government.

18. Sale of personal data and CCPA reference

It should be underlined that Sumsub does not sell personal data and strictly complies with restrictions and prohibitions under CCPA and the EU or the UK GDPR.

For more information on the CCPA application to Sumsub processing activities, please refer to the CCPA Privacy Notification.

19. Special notice to residents of the states of Illinois, Washington, or Texas (USA)

Personal data processed by Sumsub may include certain ‘biometric identifiers’ (such as scans of facial geometry or voiceprints) and ‘biometric information’ (data extracted from and based on biometric identifiers), which are used to verify the identity of the User.

Whenever such biometric identifiers and/or biometric information (collectively ‘biometric data’) are used as part of the services rendered by Sumsub to any Client, such data shall be processed by Sumsub on behalf of such Client and permanently deleted as stated in Provision 9 of this Notice. In the latter case, Sumsub shall not perform any operations regarding such data other than its storage for the period required by the applicable law.

In any event, biometric data shall only be collected and further processed by Sumsub after having obtained written informed consent of the respective Data Subject to such collection and further processing.

In case of any conflict or inconsistency between the other provisions of this Privacy Notice and the terms of this special notice, the latter shall prevail whenever the laws of the states of Illinois, Washington, or Texas (USA) are applicable to the legal relationship between Sumsub and any Data Subject.

The Client is independently responsible for complying with the privacy regulation, including BIPA, providing all necessary disclosures and obtaining all required consents.

20. Changes to this Notice

This Privacy Notice is constantly reviewed and amended in order to provide appropriate compliance with the relevant data protection laws.

Sumsub reserves the right to make amendments to this Notice at any time and for any reason. Any amendments will be effective immediately upon us posting the updated Privacy Notice on our website. Users of our website waive the right to receive specific notice about such amendments. You are invited to review this Privacy Notice at any time to stay informed about updates.

If you want to observe the previous version of this Privacy Notice, please contact us at [email protected] or visit this link. Our technical and legal support teams work 24/7 and will answer you shortly.