Private Policy
- PERSONAL DATA WE COLLECT.
1.1 Information Necessary to Use the HM Platform. When you use the HM Platform, we will collect your personal data. Failure to do so may result in our inability to provide you with all requested services. Among the data we collect are the following:
1.1.1 Contact, Account, and Profile Information. For example, your first name, last name, phone number, postal address, email address, date of birth, and profile photo, depending on the features you use.
1.1.2 Information about Your Identity. When necessary, we may ask for an image of your official identification document (in accordance with applicable law) or other information to complete the verification process, as well as a selfie at the time we verify your identification document. If you provide us with a copy of your identification document, we will obtain the corresponding data. Please refer to the article in our Help Center explaining how you can verify your identity.
1.1.3 Payment Information. For example, payment account or bank account information. If you are not an HM user, we may receive payment-related data about you, for example, when an HM user provides your payment card details to complete a reservation. Please refer to the article in our Help Center on how to pay and collect on behalf of another person.
1.2 Voluntarily Provided Information. At your discretion, you may provide us with additional personal data, such as the following:
1.2.1 Additional Profile Information. For example, your gender, preferred language of communication, city, and personal description.
1.2.2 Information about Other Persons. For example, a payment instrument or contact details of another person, or information about your travel companions. By providing us with personal data about other individuals, you certify that you have permission to provide that information to HM for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy and that you have shared the HM Privacy Policy with such individuals.
1.2.3 Biometric Information. For example, facial recognition data obtained from photographs and identification documents you send us for verification, when available and with your consent, as required by applicable law.
1.2.4 Other Information. For example, when filling out a form, adding information to your account, responding to surveys, posting on community forums, participating in promotions, communicating with the HM Customer Support team and other Members, importing or manually entering information from your contact list, providing your address or geolocation, or sharing your experience. You may also include information about your health if you deem it appropriate to provide us with such data.
1.3 Information Automatically Collected When Using the HM Platform and Our Payment Services. We will automatically collect certain information when you use the HM Platform and Payment Services. This information may include:
1.3.1 Geolocation Information. For example, precise or approximate location determined from your IP address, your mobile phone’s GPS, or other device, or other information you share with us, depending on your device settings. We may also collect this information when you are not using the app if you enable this feature in your device settings or permissions.
1.3.2 Usage Information. For example, ad searches, reservations you have made, additional services you have added, access dates and times, pages you have visited or interacted with before or after using the HM Platform, and other actions you have taken on the HM Platform, including pages or content you view and links you click to access third-party applications. We may collect this information even if you have not created an HM account or logged in.
1.3.3 Device Information. For example, IP address, information about computer equipment and software programs, device information, device activity information, unique identifiers, data about failures, and read confirmations. We may collect this information even if you have not created an HM account or logged in.
1.3.4 Cookies and similar technologies as described in our Cookie Policy.
1.3.5 Information about Payment Operations. For example, the payment instrument used, the date and time of the operation, the amount, the payment instrument’s expiration date and billing zip code, PayPal email address, IBAN, your address, and other details related to the operation.
1.4 Information We Collect from Third Parties. We may collect personal data from other sources, for example:
1.4.1 Third-Party Applications. If you decide to link or connect the HM Platform with a third-party service (such as Google, Facebook, or WeChat), or if you log into HM through a third party, you are instructing that service to send us information under its control or that you have authorized through privacy settings in that service, such as your registration, your list of friends, and your profile information. If you decide to link a smart lock to your HM account, we may collect information about the device, such as registration, activity, or device data.
1.4.2 Background Check Data Providers. For Members in the United States, to the extent permitted by applicable law, we may obtain, for example, criminal background reports, sex offender registries, and other information about you and your background. For Hosts in India, we may check their criminal backgrounds to the extent permitted by applicable law. For Members outside the United States, to the extent permitted by applicable law, and with your prior consent when necessary, we may obtain your criminal and police background history or information about your inclusion in sex offender registries. We may use your information, such as your full name or date of birth, to obtain such reports.
1.4.3 Product Invitations for Business and Account Management. Entities using our business products may send personal data to facilitate account management and invitations to use business products.
1.4.4 Invitations and Travel Companions. If you are invited to the HM Platform, for example, because someone else includes you on a trip they have booked, the person who invited you may send us personal data about you.
1.4.5 Travel Insurance Partners. If you file a claim under a Traveler’s Travel Insurance Policy, we may receive information regarding your claim to provide customer service and improve our platform.
1.4.6 Claimants. If a Host, Guest, or any third party files a claim against you, we may receive information regarding the specific claim filed to understand and, if applicable, process the claim.
1.4.7 Financial Institutions. If you decide to pay with funds from your bank account, we may receive certain information from your financial institution, such as bank account details and available balance.
1.4.8 Financing Providers and Flexible Payment Plans. If you decide to make a reservation and pay through an installment plan, we may receive certain information from the external provider, such as payment schedules and effective payments of authorized payment plans.
1.4.9 Other Sources. To the extent permitted by applicable law, we may receive additional data about you, such as invitations, demographic information, and information to assist us in detecting frauds and security issues, from i) external service providers, other third parties, or collaborators, or ii) Members and other individuals, entities, and authorities, and combine them with the information we have about you. For example, for the purpose of our efforts in preventing fraudulent practices, security research, and risk assessment, we may receive the results of criminal background checks or fraud alerts from identity verification service providers. We may also receive information about you and your activities within and outside the HM Platform from our partners, including HM users, the general public, or government, public, or fiscal authorities, or about your experiences and interactions. We may receive health information, including, among others, health-related information regarding contagious diseases.
- HOW WE USE THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT. We use personal data as described in this Privacy Policy. If you reside outside of the United States, click here to learn about the regulations on which we rely to collect and process personal data.
2.1 Providing, Improving, and Developing the HM Platform. We may process this data to:
enable you to access the HM Platform and make and receive payments; allow you to communicate with other people; process your requests; perform analysis, debug, and conduct research; develop and improve our products and services; train our customer support agents; send you messages, updates, security alerts, and notifications related to your account; process, manage, or evaluate insurance claims or similar claims; determine your country of residence based on an automated analysis of your account information and interactions with the HM Platform; personalize and tailor your experience based on your interactions with the HM Platform, your search and reservation history, your profile information and preferences, and other content you submit, and enable you to use our products and accommodation services.
2.2 Protecting the HM Platform and the Community. We may process this data to:
study and combat discrimination in accordance with our Anti-Discrimination Policy; detect, prevent, assess, and address fraud and security risks; verify or authenticate the data you provide us, including information regarding your identity, as described in the “Information Necessary to Use the HM Platform” section; conduct checks with databases and other sources of information, including criminal or police background checks; comply with our legal obligations, protect the health and well-being of Guests and Hosts, Host employees, and the general public; resolve disputes with our Members, including communicating information to your co-hosts or additional Guests about conflicts related to your co-host or additional Guest functions; enforce our contracts with third parties; determine if requirements for certain types of reservations, such as Instant Book, are met; comply with the law, respond to legal requirements, prevent harm, and protect our rights (see the “Regulatory Compliance, Response to Legal Requirements, Prevention of Harm, and Protection of Our Rights” section); enforce our Terms and other policies (e.g., the Anti-Discrimination Policy), and examine or evaluate the interactions you have with the HM Platform and the information obtained from third parties. 3.3.2(i) Disclosure. We may disclose your data to courts and tribunals, law enforcement, government or public agencies, tax authorities, authorized third parties, or other Members as required or permitted by law, or when reasonably necessary: i) to comply with our legal obligations; ii) to comply with a valid legal requirement (such as a subpoena or court order) or respond to claims filed against HM; iii) to comply with valid legal requirements related to a criminal investigation regarding illegal, alleged, or suspected activity, or to address or respond to any other activity that may expose us, you, or any of our users to legal liability or regulatory enforcement (here you will find more information on how Airbnb responds to information requests from authorities); iv) to enforce and manage our contracts with Members, including our Terms, Additional Legal Terms, and Policies; v) to respond to requests related to legal claims or current or future legal proceedings related to HM or third parties, in accordance with applicable law, or vi) to protect the rights, property, or personal safety of HM, its employees, its Members, or the general public.
3.3.2(i)(a) To tax authorities. When required or permitted by applicable law, we may provide information about Hosts or Guests to tax authorities or other relevant government entities, depending on your location, to determine compliance with relevant tax obligations.
