Sureel | Privacy Policy

Sureel, Inc. ("Sureel," "we", “us” or "our") provides a generative AI platform dedicated to enhancing human creativity and facilitating social interaction through image generation services (the “Sureel Platform”), connecting the creators of artwork (“Creators”) with buyers of AI-generated artwork (“Buyers”).

This Privacy Policy describes how Sureel processes personal information that we collect through our digital or online properties or services that link to this Privacy Policy (including as applicable, the Sureel Platform, our website and our social media pages) as well as our marketing activities, live events and other activities described in this Privacy Policy (collectively, the “Service”). Sureel may provide additional or supplemental privacy policies to individuals for specific products or services that we offer at the time we collect personal information.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to information that we process on behalf of our business customers (such as businesses and other organizations) while providing the Sureel Platform to them. Our use of information that we process on behalf of our business customers may be governed by our agreements with such customers. If you have concerns regarding your personal information that we process on behalf of a business customer, please direct your concerns to that enterprise customer.

NOTICE TO EUROPEAN USERS: Please see the Notice to European Users section for additional information for individuals located in the European Economic Area or United Kingdom (which we refer to as “Europe”, and “European” should be understood accordingly) below.

Personal information we collect

Information you provide to us. Personal information you may provide to us through the Service or otherwise includes:

Contact data, such as your first and last name, salutation, email address, billing and mailing addresses, professional title and company name, and phone number.
Profile data, such as the username and password that you may set to establish an online account on the Service, biographical details, photograph or picture, and any other information that you add to your account profile.
Communications data based on our exchanges with you, including when you contact us through the Service or communicate with us via chat features, social media, or otherwise.
Transactional and payment data, such as information relating to or needed to complete your orders on or through the Service, including order numbers, transaction history and payment data such as payment card information or bank account number.
Marketing data, such as your preferences for receiving our marketing communications and details about your engagement with them.
Other data not specifically listed here, which we will use as described in this Privacy Policy or as otherwise disclosed at the time of collection.

If you are a Creator, you may also provide us with:

Creator content, such as messages, photos, images, music, videos, audio, comments, questions, files, works of authorship, and other content or information that you transmit, or otherwise make available on the Sureel Platform.
Creator metrics, such as the number of AI-generated artworks generated by Buyers using Creator content (and the associated monetary value).

If you are a Buyer, you may also provide us with:

Buyer-generated content, such as messages, photos, images, music, videos, audio, comments, questions, files, and other content or information that you generate through your use of the Sureel Platform, including in your chat inputs, as well as associated metadata. Metadata includes information on how, when, where and by whom a piece of content was collected and how that content has been formatted or edited. Metadata also includes information that users can add or can have added to their content, such as keywords, geographical or location information, and other similar data.

Third-party sources. We may combine personal information we receive from you with personal information that we obtain from other sources, such as:

Public sources, such as government agencies, public records, social media platforms, and other publicly available sources.
Partners, such as marketing partners and event co-sponsors.
Service providers that provide services on our behalf or help us operate the Service or our business.
Business transaction partners. We may receive personal information in connection with an actual or prospective business transaction. For example, we may receive your personal information from an entity we acquire or are acquired by, a successor, or assignee or any party involved in a business transaction such as a merger, acquisition, sale of assets, or similar transaction, and/or in the context of an insolvency, bankruptcy, or receivership.
Third-party services, such as social media services, that you use to log into, or otherwise link to, your Service account. This data may include your username, profile picture and other information associated with your account on that third-party service that is made available to us based on your account settings on that service.

Automatic data collection. We, our service providers, and our business partners may automatically log information about you, your computer or mobile device, and your interaction over time with the Service, our communications and other online services, such as:

Online activity data, such as pages or screens you viewed, how long you spent on a page or screen, the website you visited before browsing to the Service, navigation paths between pages or screens, information about your activity on a page or screen, access times and duration of access, and whether you have opened our emails or clicked links within them.

For more information concerning our automatic collection of data, please see the Tracking technologies section below.

Data about others. We may offer features that help users invite their friends or contacts to use the Service, and we may collect contact details about these invitees so we can deliver their invitations. Please do not refer someone to us or share their contact details with us unless you have their permission to do so.

How we use your personal information

We may use your personal information for the following purposes or as otherwise described at the time of collection:

Service delivery and operations. We may use your personal information to:

provide the Service;
enable security features of the Service;
establish and maintain your profile on the Service;
communicate with you about the Service, including by sending Service-related announcements, updates, security alerts, and support and administrative messages; and
provide support for the Service, and respond to your requests, questions and feedback.

Service personalization, which may include using your personal information to:

understand your needs and interests;
personalize your experience with the Service and our Service-related communications; and
remember your selections and preferences as you navigate webpages.

Service improvement and analytics. We may use your personal information to analyze your usage of the Service, improve the Service, train our algorithms and artificial intelligence models, improve the rest of our business, help us understand user activity on the Service, including which pages are most and least visited and how visitors move around the Service, as well as user interactions with our emails, and to develop new products and services.

Direct marketing. We may send you direct marketing communications and may personalize these messages based on your needs and interests. You may opt-out of our marketing communications as described in the Opt-out of marketing section below.

Compliance and protection. We may use your personal information to:

comply with applicable laws, lawful requests, and legal processes, such as responding to subpoenas, investigations or requests from government authorities;
protect our, your or others’ rights, privacy, safety or property (including by making and defending legal claims);
audit our internal processes for compliance with legal and contractual requirements or our internal policies;
enforce the terms and conditions that govern the Service; and
prevent, identify, investigate and deter fraudulent, harmful, unauthorized, unethical or illegal activity, including cyberattacks and identity theft.

Data sharing in the context of corporate events, we may share certain personal information in the context of actual or prospective corporate events – for more information, see How we share your personal information, below.

To create aggregated, de-identified and/or anonymized data. We may create aggregated, de-identified and/or anonymized data from your personal information and other individuals whose personal information we collect. We make personal information into de-identified and/or anonymized data by removing information that makes the data identifiable to you and we will not attempt to reidentify any such data.

Further uses, in some cases, we may use your personal information for further uses, in which case we will ask for your consent to use your personal information for those further purposes if they are not compatible with the initial purpose for which information was collected.

How we share your personal information

We may share your personal information with the following parties and as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy, in other applicable notices, or at the time of collection.

Affiliates. Our corporate parent, subsidiaries, and affiliates.

Service providers. Third parties that provide services on our behalf or help us operate the Service or our business (such as hosting, information technology, customer support, email delivery, marketing, consumer research and analytics).

Payment processors. Any payment card information you use to make a purchase on the Service is collected and processed directly by our payment processors, such as Stripe. Stripe may use your payment data in accordance with its privacy policy, https://stripe.com/privacy.

Third parties designated by you. We may share your personal information with third parties where you have instructed us or provided your consent to do so.

Partners. Third parties with whom we partner, including parties with whom we co-sponsor events or promotions, with whom we jointly offer products or services, or whose products or services may be of interest to you.

Linked third-party services. If you log into the Service with, or otherwise link your Service account to, a social media or other third-party service, we may share your personal information with that third-party service. The third party’s use of the shared information will be governed by its privacy policy and the settings associated with your account with the third-party service.

Professional advisors. Professional advisors, such as lawyers, auditors, bankers and insurers, where necessary in the course of the professional services that they render to us.

Authorities and others. Law enforcement, government authorities, and private parties, as we believe in good faith to be necessary or appropriate for the Compliance and protection purposes described above.

Business transferees. We may disclose personal information in the context of actual or prospective business transactions (e.g., investments in Sureel, financing of Sureel, public stock offerings, or the sale, transfer or merger of all or part of our business, assets or shares), for example, we may need to share certain personal information with prospective counterparties and their advisers. We may also disclose your personal information to an acquirer, successor, or assignee of Sureel as part of any merger, acquisition, sale of assets, or similar transaction, and/or in the event of an insolvency, bankruptcy, or receivership in which personal information is transferred to one or more third parties as one of our business assets.

Other users and the public. Your profile and other personal information may be visible to other users of the Service and the public. For example, if you are a Creator, your Creator content may be visible to Buyers when they generate AI-generated artwork created using your artwork. Further, other users of the Service or the public may have access to your information if you chose to make your profile or other personal information available to them through the Service, such as when you share a message thread, provide comments, reviews, survey responses, or share other content. This information can be seen, collected and used by others, including being cached, copied, screen captured or stored elsewhere by others (e.g., search engines), and we are not responsible for any such use of this information.

Your choices

In this section, we describe the rights and choices available to all users.

Users in Europe can find additional information about their rights in the Notice to European Users section.

Access or update your information. If you have registered for an account with us through the Service, you may review and update certain account information by logging into the account.

Opt-out of communications. You may opt-out of marketing-related emails by following the opt-out or unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of the email, or by contacting us. Please note that if you choose to opt-out of marketing-related emails, you may continue to receive service-related and other non-marketing emails.

Blocking images/clear gifs: Most browsers and devices allow you to configure your device to prevent images from loading. To do this, follow the instructions in your particular browser or device settings.

Do Not Track. Some Internet browsers may be configured to send “Do Not Track” signals to the online services that you visit. We currently do not respond to “Do Not Track” signals. To find out more about “Do Not Track,” please visit https://www.allaboutdnt.com.

Declining to provide information. We need to collect personal information to provide certain services. If you do not provide the information we identify as required or mandatory, we may not be able to provide those services.

Linked third-party platforms. If you choose to connect to the Service through your social media account or other third-party platform, you may be able to use your settings in your account with that platform to limit the information we receive from it. If you revoke our ability to access information from a third-party platform, that choice will not apply to information that we have already received from that third party.

Delete your content or close your account. You can choose to delete certain content through your account. If you wish to request to close your account, please contact us.

Other sites and services

The Service may contain links to websites, mobile applications, and other online services operated by third parties. In addition, our content may be integrated into web pages or other online services that are not associated with us. These links and integrations are not an endorsement of, or representation that we are affiliated with, any third party. We do not control websites, mobile applications or online services operated by third parties, and we are not responsible for their actions. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of the other websites, mobile applications and online services you use.

Security

We employ technical, organizational and physical safeguards designed to protect the personal information we collect. However, security risk is inherent in all internet and information technologies and we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information.

International data transfer

We are headquartered in the United States and may use service providers that operate in other countries. Your personal information may be transferred to the United States or other locations where privacy laws may not be as protective as those in your state, province, or country.

Users in Europe should read the information provided in the Notice to European Users section for information on the transfer of personal information outside of Europe.

Children

The Service is not intended for use by anyone under 16 years of age. If you are a parent or guardian of a child from whom you believe we have collected personal information in a manner prohibited by law, please contact us. If we learn that we have collected personal information through the Service from a child without the consent of the child’s parent or guardian as required by law, we will comply with applicable legal requirements to delete the information.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time. If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you by updating the date of this Privacy Policy and posting it on the Service or other appropriate means. Any modifications to this Privacy Policy will be effective upon our posting the modified version (or as otherwise indicated at the time of posting). In all cases, your use of the Service after the effective date of any modified Privacy Policy indicates your acknowledging that the modified Privacy Policy applies to your interactions with the Service and our business.

How to contact us

Email: privacy@sureel.io

Notice to European users

General

Where this Notice to European users applies. The information provided in this “Notice to European users” section applies only to individuals in the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area (i.e., “Europe” as defined at the top of this Privacy Policy).

Controller. Sureel is the controller in respect of the processing of your personal information covered by this Privacy Policy for purposes of the “GDPR” (i.e., the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 and the so-called ‘UK GDPR’). See the ‘How to contact us’ section above for our contact details.

Personal information. References to “personal information” in this Privacy Policy should be understood to include a reference to “personal data” (as defined in the GDPR) – i.e., information about individuals from which they are either directly identified or can be identified.

Our legal bases for processing

In respect of each of the purposes for which we use your personal information, the GDPR requires us to ensure that we have a “legal basis” for that use.

Our legal bases for processing your personal information described in this Privacy Policy are listed below.

Where we need to perform a contract, we are about to enter into or have entered into with you (“Contractual Necessity”).
Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests (“Legitimate Interests”). More detail about the specific legitimate interests pursued in respect of each Purpose we use your personal information for is set out in the table below.
Where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation (“Compliance with Law”).
Where we have your specific consent to carry out the processing for the Purpose in question (“Consent”).

We have set out below, in a table format, the legal bases we rely on in respect of the relevant Purposes for which we use your personal information – for more information on these Purposes and the data types involved, see ‘How we use your personal information’

Purpose	Categories of personal information involved	- Legal basis
Service delivery and operations	- Contact data - Profile data - Communications data - Transactional and payment data - Creator content - Creator metrics - Buyer-generated content - Third-party source data - Device data - Data about others	- Contractual Necessity
Service personalization	- Profile data - Creator content - Buyer-generated content - Device data - Online activity data - Location data	- Legitimate Interests We have a legitimate interest in enhancing our users’ experience by tailoring services to meet individual preferences.
Service improvement and analytics	- Profile data - Communications data - Creator content - Buyer-generated content - Device data - Online activity data - Location data - Communication interaction data	- Legitimate Interests We have a legitimate interest in analyzing how users use the Service to identify issues, streamline operations, and optimize the overall user experience.
Direct marketing	- Contact data - Profile data - Communications data - Transactional and payment data - Marketing data	- Legitimate Interests We have a legitimate interest in promoting our operations and goals as an organization and sending marketing communications for that purpose. -Consent, in circumstances or in jurisdictions where consent is required under applicable data protection laws to the sending of any given marketing communications.
Compliance and protection	- Any and all data types relevant in the circumstances	- Compliance with Law - Legitimate Interests Where Compliance with Law is not applicable, we have a legitimate interest in participating in, supporting, and following legal process and requests, including through cooperation with authorities. We may also have a legitimate interest in ensuring the protection, maintenance, and enforcement of our rights, property, and/or safety.
Data sharing in the context of corporate events	- Any and all data types relevant in the circumstances	- Legitimate Interests We have a legitimate interest in sharing personal information in the context of certain corporate events to ensure the continuity of the Service and the ongoing operation of our business.
To create aggregated, de-identified and/or anonymized data	- Any and all data types relevant in the circumstances	- Legitimate Interests We have a legitimate interest in creating aggregated, de-identified and/or anonymized data to use for research purposes without infringing on our users’ privacy.

Retention

We retain personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which we collected it, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements, to establish or defend legal claims, or for Compliance and protection purposes.

To determine the appropriate retention period for personal information, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of your personal information, the purposes for which we process your personal information and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.

When we no longer require the personal information, we have collected about you, we will either delete or anonymize it or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible. If we anonymize your personal information (so that it can no longer be associated with you), we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.

Other info

No sensitive personal information. We ask that you not provide us with any sensitive personal information (e.g., social security numbers, information related to racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religion or other beliefs, health, biometrics or genetic characteristics, criminal background or trade union membership) on or through the services, or otherwise to us. If you provide us with any sensitive personal information to us when you use the services, you must consent to our processing and use of such sensitive personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not consent to our processing and use of such sensitive personal information, you must not submit such sensitive personal information through our services.

No Automated Decision-Making and Profiling. As part of the Service, we do not engage in automated decision-making and/or profiling, which produces legal or similarly significant effects.

Your rights

General. European data protection laws give you certain rights regarding your personal information. If you are located in Europe, you may ask us to take the following actions in relation to your personal information:

Access. Provide you with information about our processing of your personal information and give you access to your personal information.
Correct. Update or correct inaccuracies in your personal information.
Delete. Where applicable, delete your personal information where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it - you also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal information where you have exercised your right to object to processing (see below).
Transfer. Transfer a machine-readable copy of your personal information to you or a third party of your choice.
Restrict. Restrict the processing of your personal information, for example, if you want us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it.
Object. Object to our processing of your personal information where we are relying on Legitimate Interests – you also have the right to object where we are processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes.
Withdraw Consent. When we use your personal information based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.

Exercising These Rights. You may submit these requests by email to privacy@sureel.io or our postal address provided above. We may request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and process your request. Whether or not we are required to fulfill any request you make will depend on a number of factors (e.g., why and how we are processing your personal information), if we reject any request you may make (whether in whole or in part) we will let you know our grounds for doing so at the time, subject to any legal restrictions.

Your Right to Lodge a Complaint with your Supervisory Authority. In addition to your rights outlined above, if you are not satisfied with our response to a request you make, or how we process your personal information, you can make a complaint to the data protection regulator in your habitual place of residence.

For users in the European Economic Area – the contact information for the data protection regulator in your place of residence can be found here: https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/board/members_en
For users in the United Kingdom – the contact information for the UK data protection regulator can be found here: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

Data Processing outside Europe

We are a U.S.-based company and many of our service providers, advisers, partners or other recipients of data are also based in the U.S. This means that, if you use the Service, your personal information will necessarily be accessed and processed in the U.S. It may also be provided to recipients in other countries outside Europe.

It is important to note that the US is not the subject of an ‘adequacy decision’ under the GDPR – basically, this means that the U.S. legal regime is not considered by relevant European bodies to provide an adequate level of protection for personal information, which is equivalent to that provided by relevant European laws.

Where we share your personal information with third parties who are based outside Europe, we try to ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by making sure one of the following mechanisms is implemented:

Transfers to territories with an adequacy decision. We may transfer your personal information to countries or territories whose laws have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal information by the European Commission or UK Government (as and where applicable) (from time to time).
Transfers to territories without an adequacy decision.
- We may transfer your personal information to countries or territories whose laws have not been deemed to provide such an adequate level of protection (e.g., the U.S., see above).
- However, in these cases:
  - we may use specific appropriate safeguards, which are designed to give personal information effectively the same protection it has in Europe – for example, standard-form contracts approved by relevant authorize for this purpose; or
  - in limited circumstances, we may rely on an exception, or ‘derogation’, which permits us to transfer your personal information to such country despite the absence of an ‘adequacy decision’ or ‘appropriate safeguards’ – for example, reliance on your explicit consent to that transfer.

You may contact us if you want further information on the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your personal information out of Europe.