The QFCA respects and takes your privacy seriously. It has a privacy policy including a cookie policy. When accessing the QFC website (including www.awards.qfc.qa) and clicking “Accept All Cookies” or “Partially Accepting”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyse site usage, and assist in QFCA marketing efforts.

This privacy policy explains how the QFCA uses the personal data we collect from you when you use the Site.

• What data do we collect?
• How do we collect your data?
• How will we use your data?
• How do we store your data?
• Marketing
• What are your data protection rights?
• What are cookies?
• How do we use cookies?
• What types of cookies do we use?
• How to manage your cookies
• Privacy policies of other websites
• Changes to our privacy policy
• How to contact us
• How to contact the appropriate authorities

• The QFCA’s data protection regime is governed by the QFC Data Protection Regulations and QFCA Data Protection Rules.
  
  
• The QFCA collects the following data:
  • Personal identification information (name, email address, phone numbers etc.);
  • Company identification information (organization name, registration data etc.);
  • Internet Protocol (IP) address; your device, browser, and operating system; your location, pages visited, and the duration of your stay on our Site.

You directly provide the QFCA with most of the data we collect. We collect data and process data when you:

• Create an account on our Site;
• Fill out a form registering your interest in events or services;
• Fill out an email subscription form;
• Fill out a contact form;
• Register your interest or participate in the QFC Awards;
• Apply for an open position with the QFCA or affiliated companies;
• Request information or email an enquiry to us;
• Make a submission on any matter requiring public consultation;
• Participate in any survey or other similar exercise undertaken by us;
• File a complaint;
• Use the Ask QFC - Powered by ChatGPT of Azure OpenAI Service;
• Use or view our Site using your browser's cookies; and
• Send personal data to the QFCA by any other means.

The QFCA collects your data so that we can:

Carry out and fulfil our statutory and legal obligations and functions as a regulator in the QFC;

• Provide and improve our services to you;
• Manage our relationship with you and QFC-licensed firms and to communicate with you;
• Administer and improve our Site; including compiling anonymous statistics, for example, Site usage statistics;
• Market, enhance and improve our services;
• Maintain internal record keeping and audits;
• Recruit new employees;
• Comply with legal regulations;
• Legitimately pursue our activities; and
• Send our email newsletter to you as well as other emails that might be of interest.
  
  

The QFCA may share your data with the following partners in order to facilitate the provision of relevant services:

• Government and regulatory bodies or entities in and outside of QFC;
• Other businesses and third parties (such as our service providers, IT hosting and maintenance providers and other contractors) which we engage to help us run our business, for example to provide services to you;
• Analytics, technology and search engine providers that assist us in the improvement and optimisation of our Site;
• Such other entities or bodies as may be required by law;
• Other parties to which you authorise us to release it.

The QFCA would like to send you information about services and events of ours that we think you might like. If you have agreed to receive marketing messages, you may always opt out at a later date.

You have the right at any time to stop the QFCA from contacting you for marketing purposes or providing your data to other entities.

If you no longer wish to be contacted for marketing purposes, please unsubscribe here .

The QFCA would like to make sure you are fully aware of all of your data protection rights. Every user is entitled to the following:

• The right to access – You have the right to request the QFCA for copies of your personal data. We may charge you a small the applicable fee for this service.
• The right to rectification – You have the right to request that the QFCA correct any information you believe is inaccurate. You also have the right to request the QFCA to complete information you believe is incomplete.
• The right to erasure – You have the right to request that the QFCA erase your personal data, under certain conditions.
• The right to restrict processing – You have the right to request that the QFCA restrict the processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
• The right to object to processing – You have the right to object to the QFCA’s processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
• The right to data portability – You have the right to request that the QFCA transfer the data that we have collected to another organization, or directly to you, under certain conditions.

If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us:
Call us at: +974 4496 7753
Write to us at: complianceofficer@qfc.qa

You have the right to complain to the QFC Data Protection Office should you feel that the QFCA has not addressed your concerns in a satisfactory manner. You can contact the Data Protection Office by email at dataprotection@qfc.qa, or write to the QFC Data Protection Office at:

Data Protection Office
Qatar Financial Centre Authority
QFC Tower 1
Al Wahda Street, West Bay
P.O. Box 23245
Doha, the State of Qatar

Cookies are text files placed on your computer to collect standard Internet log information and visitor behaviour information. When you visit our Site, we may collect information from you automatically through cookies or similar technology. 

For further information, visit: allaboutcookies.org

QFCA uses cookies in a range of ways to improve your experience on our Site, including:

• Keeping you signed in;
• Understanding how you use our Site;
• Personalising our Site content for you;
• Providing you with more information matching your identified interests; and
• Completing a request made by you.
  
  

There are a number of different types of cookies; however, our Site uses:

• Necessary – These cookies are essential to make our Site work correctly as they enable you to move around our Site and use our features. Examples include remembering previous actions (e.g., entered text) when navigating back to a page in the same session.
  
  
• Performance – These cookies help us understand how visitors interact with our Site by providing information about the areas visited, the time spent on the Site, and any issues encountered, such as error messages. This helps us improve the performance of our Site.
  
  
• Functionality – The QFCA uses these cookies so that we recognize you on our Site and remember your previously selected preferences. These could include what language you prefer and location you are in. A mix of first-party and third-party cookies are used.
  
  
• Advertising – The QFCA uses these cookies to collect information about your visit to our Site, the content you viewed, the links you followed and information about your browser, device, and your IP address. The QFCA sometimes shares some limited aspects of this data with third parties for advertising purposes. We may also share online data collected through cookies with our advertising partners. This means that when you visit another website, you may be shown advertising based on your browsing patterns on our Site.

You can set your browser not to accept cookies, and the above-mentioned website tells you how to remove cookies from your browser. However, in a few cases, some of our Site features may not function as a result.

Our Site contains links to other websites. Our privacy policy applies only to our Site, so if you click on a link to another website, you should read their privacy policy carefully.

If you have any questions about the Terms, this Site, the QFCA's privacy policy, the data we hold on you, or you would like to exercise one of your data protection rights, please do not hesitate to contact us.

• Email us at: complianceofficer@qfc.qa
• Call us at: +974 4496 7753

Or write to us:

Head - Compliance,
Qatar Financial Centre Authority,
QFC Tower 1, Al Wahda Street, West Bay,
PO Box 23245, Doha, State of Qatar.

This Privacy Policy as well as your access to the Site is subject to and governed by the law of the Qatar Financial Centre (further referred to as ‘QFC’) and the QFCA Rules and Regulations without giving effect to conflicts of law principles thereof. Any dispute regarding this Privacy Policy or our use or handling of your personal information and general information shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre.