Privacy Policy

SteelTrade ("SteelTrade", "we", "us") operates an online business-to-business marketplace that allows steel buyers and sellers to publish opportunities, discover counterparties and negotiate in private Deal Rooms. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, how we use and share it, how long we keep it and what rights you have.

This policy applies to visitors of our website, registered members, company administrators and any individual whose personal data we process in connection with the marketplace.

1. Information we collect

Account data. Name, business email address, telephone and WhatsApp number, password (stored only as a salted cryptographic hash), account role and account status.

Company data. Company name, trade licence or registration number, registered and operating address, country, website, logo, company description, tax identifiers and the identity of authorised representatives.

Verification data. Documents you upload to support a verification application, including trade licences, certificates of incorporation, identity documents of signatories and any supporting correspondence.

Marketplace content. Listings of available stock, buying requirements, specifications, quantities, origin and location data, prices, commercial terms and attachments.

Transaction and communication data. Inquiries, Deal Room membership, chat messages, quotations, documents exchanged, deal confirmations and issue reports.

Membership and billing data. Plan selected, promotional pricing applied, payment references, invoice records and subscription status. We do not store full card numbers.

Technical data. IP address, device and browser type, operating system, language, referring pages, pages viewed, session timestamps and diagnostic logs.

2. How we use your information

To create and administer your account and your company profile.

To operate the marketplace: publishing approved listings and requirements, powering search and filters, and enabling inquiries, Deal Rooms, chat, quotations and deal confirmation.

To verify companies and to reduce fraud, impersonation and abuse.

To administer memberships, promotions, invoices and renewals.

To provide customer support and to investigate reported issues and disputes.

To send service messages, security alerts and, where permitted, marketing communications you may opt out of at any time.

To monitor, secure and improve the platform, including analytics and aggregated reporting.

To comply with legal obligations, including sanctions, anti-money-laundering, tax and record-keeping requirements.

3. Legal bases for processing

Where data protection law requires a legal basis, we rely on: performance of a contract with you; our legitimate interests in operating a secure and trustworthy marketplace; compliance with legal obligations; and your consent where consent is required, for example for certain cookies and marketing.

4. Visibility of information on the marketplace

SteelTrade deliberately separates opportunity information from identity information. Product details, specifications, quantities, origin, stock or delivery location, publicly disclosed prices and posting dates may be visible to all visitors. Company identity and contact information — company name, contact person, telephone, WhatsApp, email, website, full address and private documents — are only released to eligible members in accordance with the access rules configured by SteelTrade, which may require an active paid membership, a verified company, or both. Content you exchange inside a Deal Room is visible to the participants of that Deal Room and to authorised SteelTrade staff for moderation, support and dispute handling.

5. Sharing with third parties

We share personal data only with: cloud hosting, database, storage and email providers that process data on our instructions; payment and invoicing providers; verification and compliance service providers; professional advisers; and competent authorities where disclosure is legally required. We do not sell personal data.

6. International transfers

Our infrastructure providers may process data in jurisdictions other than your own. Where data is transferred internationally, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as contractual protections with our processors and restrict access to what is necessary for the service.

7. Security

Access to the platform is authenticated, passwords are hashed by our authentication provider and never stored in readable form, and access to data is enforced at database level through row-level security rules rather than by hiding interface elements. Administrative actions are recorded in an audit log. Storage buckets holding verification and deal documents are private and served only through short-lived signed links. No system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, and you remain responsible for keeping your credentials confidential.

8. Retention

Account, company, membership, listing, requirement, Deal Room and transaction records are retained while your account is active and afterwards for as long as required for legal, tax, accounting, evidential and dispute-resolution purposes. Verification documents are retained for the period required by applicable compliance obligations. Diagnostic logs are retained for a shorter period.

9. Your rights

Subject to applicable law you may request access to your personal data, correction of inaccurate data, deletion, restriction of processing, objection to processing based on legitimate interests, portability and withdrawal of consent. Requests can be made to business@steeltrade.io. We may need to verify your identity and may retain information where we have an overriding legal obligation or legitimate ground to do so. Deleting an individual account does not automatically delete company records or transaction history created by that company.

10. Children

The marketplace is intended for businesses and is not directed to individuals under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect data from children.

Governing law and jurisdiction

These terms are governed by the laws of the United Arab Emirates. The courts of Dubai, UAE have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising out of or in connection with them, without prejudice to mandatory consumer or local-law rights that may apply to you.

Changes to this document

We may update this document from time to time to reflect changes in law, regulation, our services or our business practices. The version published on this page is always the current version and the effective date is the date of last update shown in your account or on the page. Material changes will be notified to registered members by email or by an in-platform notice.

Contact

Questions about this document can be sent to business@steeltrade.io. Please include your company name and registered account email so that we can respond accurately.