Terms and Conditions

Benefit from a customised experience

Our members benefit from a customised experience on the website, according to their destination of interest. Many sections of the Expat.com website such as the Forum, Jobs, Housing, Events, and the Business Directory sections are adapted to the user profile data.

Members and users also receive customised notifications according to the pages, destinations, topics, or themes visited.

Guidance along your relocation project

Members and users have access to different sections and services allowing them to achieve their global mobility goals. Below is a list of services offered by Expat.com:

• A country/city interface
• A global expat community, including expats and expats-to-be
• An events section
• A pictures section
• An expat blog directory
• An expat magazine
• Country guides for expats
• A business directory
• A "recommended service" section relating to global mobility (information relating to international health insurance, relocation, etc.)
• A jobs listing including CVs/résumés
• A housing listing
• A classifieds ads section
• Country and city forums
• A newsletter with the latest updates on the platform

Interacting with the community

Expat.com members can interact with the other members in different ways and on various topics. Sharing information or engaging with the community members is a good way to facilitate your relocation. Based on their activities on Expat.com website and information provided on their profile, our members are more likely to be connected with people who can help them with their relocation.

Help in discovering new products and services

We display different types of promotional items such as sponsored content, banners, recommended services on your browser and via emails (newsletter, promotional emails). These items are sponsored by our business partners as part of their own business development strategy. We make sure that our members have access to the most relevant information based on their profile and their browsing experience on Expat.com website.

Providing you with a safe and friendly platform

The well-being of our members on Expat.com website is very important to us. Our core values are:

• Mutual help: Expat.com is above all a benevolent platform where everyone can ask for advice and provide feedback on their relocation project.
• Friendliness: We encourage friendly and sincere exchanges of information among Members.
• Respect: We encourage respect among our Members.

To achieve this, we take all the necessary measures including intervening in forums, moderating contents, deleting accounts, and if we consider necessary, instituting legal proceedings.

Conducting research to improve our services

To improve the services we provide, we regularly conduct research, often through aggregated data analysis. However, Expat.com will not disclose your personal information other than as described in these General Conditions of Use.

Using Expat.com

The user acknowledges that the computer facilities that are used to access the Expat.com website contain no viruses or any malicious software. Expat.com uses its best efforts to ensure that the Expat.com website may be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except in cases of force majeure, technical issues, or problems related to the communications networks.

Expat.com reserves the right to modify, suspend, or interrupt, without notice, the range of services provided. Expat.com also reserves the right, at its own discretion, to restrict, suspend, or terminate access to any part of the Expat Website at any time for any reason without notice or liability.

The user acknowledges that the Expat.com website may contain information, software, photographs, illustrations, audio files, video files, animations, flash files, data files, code snippets, and any other material (collectively referred to as "Content") that is protected by copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property rights of Expat.com and its affiliates or other third parties (including other members).

A user is solely responsible for the authenticity of photos and captions the user uploads on the Expat.com website. By uploading their photographs on the Website, the users give their non-exclusive rights to Expat.com to use, distribute, and modify such photographs.

You are not allowed to modify, publish, transmit, transfer or sell, reproduce, create derivative works, distribute, transform, display, or exploit the content of the Expat.com website by reverse engineering or any other means, part or whole, unless you have obtained a written authorisation from Expat.com, and if specifically permitted in these General Conditions of Use.

You agree not to use the Expat.com website for any purpose which is unlawful or not permitted by these General Conditions of Use. You are fully aware of, and agree that when uploading any content on the server which hosts the Expat.com website, for example, during any type of communication or exchange on the Expat.com website (including in forums and chat rooms), the following is strictly prohibited:

• Defamation, abusive, harassing, threatening, hate, or discriminatory statements, or anti-human rights propaganda, such as homophobic or racist comments.
• Any unlawful or inappropriate material or information, including but not limited to violent, nude, partially nude, hateful, pornographic, including child pornographic materials or any other photos which are otherwise unlawful via the service.
• Downloading or transferring files containing software or other material which is protected by intellectual property laws (or the rights to privacy or protection of confidential information unless you are the owner or you have the rights, or have received the required consent).
• Downloading or transferring files containing viruses, corrupted files, or other software or programs that may damage or prevent the use of another computer.
• Deleting any author credit, legal notice, property designation or label from any file that is uploaded to the server.
• Falsifying the origin or source of software or other material contained in a file uploaded to the server.
• Offers of services, even for free, ads, polls, contests or chain letters.
• Downloading any file uploaded by another forum user knowing or ought to have known is illegal or is in breach of the rights of another person.
• Use of any communication or content or other information obtained by the Expat.com website in a competitive manner against Expat.com's activities.

The Expat.com website reserves the right to delete without notice any Member's account. It also reserves the right to notify any inappropriate behaviour of a Member to their Internet Service Provider or any investigatory body where we have a legal obligation to do so.

You acknowledge that all forum communication is public. Furthermore, you acknowledge that no third party or content communication is endorsed by Expat.com website and that no third party or content communication may be considered as reviewed, sorted, or approved by Expat.com.

You also agree not to use the Expat.com website, in any way to damage, destroy, overburden, or otherwise harm the website or interfere with the use and enjoyment of other Members of the Expat.com website. You also agree not to attempt unauthorised access to the accounts of other members, or other computer systems or networks associated with the Expat.com website. You also agree to not obtain, or attempt to obtain any material or information, in any way, that is unintentionally available or provided via the Expat.com website.

To protect your identity, Expat.com strongly advises you not to communicate special categories of data neither on your forum posts nor on your ads, but to use either the private messaging system or the appropriate fields available when you add an ad.

Updating your profile

You agree to keep your profile up to date. If your profile has not been updated over a period of one year, we will send you notifications via e-mail inviting you to review your profile and update it.

Premium Account

Subscribing to a premium account is subject to payment and implies acceptance of Expat.com's General Terms and Condition of Sale (GTCS). Click here to view the GTCS. A hypertext link will be displayed when accepting the GTCS. Upon clicking on the GTCS tab or on the hypertext link, you will be able to view a page on which Expat.com's GTCS is displayed.

Advertising

We are very committed to providing free access to the Expat.com website. Everyone can have access to information and advice from our community. Advertising space on the website, as well as our newsletter and promotional emails significantly contributes to this free access. Cookies placed on your browser (see our Cookie Policy) and your profile data (see our Privacy Policy) make it possible to provide you with the relevant advertisements. Expat.com and potential third party cookie issuers have contractual obligations under an agreement they have entered into to ensure that the user is informed of the use of cookies before deciding to install or to reject them. The Expat.com website uses Google's services primarily for advertising (DoubleClick For Publisher, AdSense) as well as other channels and networks such as Facebook.

Who can use Expat.com

You represent and assure that you are of legal age to use the Expat.com website. You agree to be held responsible for your use of the Expat.com website, as well as of your Member Name and password(s) by others where they have been disclosed to them, including, without limitation, minor children (less than 18 years old living with you). You agree to monitor the use of the Expat.com website by minor children (on your behalf or in your account).

Intellectual property

As a web host, Expat.com cannot technically review or edit all communication or content uploaded on the Expat.com website, and cannot be held responsible for the content uploaded. Expat.com makes no commitment as to the accuracy of the website's content. Notwithstanding this document, Expat.com reserves the right to delete, move, reject, or edit any communication or content that it may determine, at its own discretion, as a violation or potential violation of the Terms and Conditions of Use.

You are solely responsible for all communications or contents made on the Expat.com website with your login credentials. Expat.com has the right, but not the obligation, to correct any error or omission in any content, as determined, at its own discretion.

Expat.com respects the intellectual property of its members and requests its users and members to do the same. If you believe that your work is being copied in such a way that violates your intellectual property rights, please contact the Expat.com team as soon as possible.

All rights of reproduction of texts, images, logos, and any element of the pages of the Expat.com website cannot be reproduced, as a whole or in part, without specific and prior consent of Expat.com.

Any copy, in part or as a whole, for advertising or commercial purposes, on any medium whatsoever, is strictly prohibited and/or is subject to the prior written consent of Expat.com. Any request for authorization to copy must be sent to: contact@expat.com.

The Expat.com website contains links to third-party websites which are owned and operated by resellers or independent service providers. It is the user's responsibility to make all necessary verification prior to continuing a transaction with a third party. We cannot be held responsible for any prejudice or damage relating to any transaction made by the user with a third party.

User Contributions

The user declares and guarantees:

• To be the owner or holder of necessary rights and/or authorisations related to the copyrights, personality rights, or other intellectual and/or industrial property rights which may be attached to their contribution.
• To obtain a prior written authorisation from each person who can be identified in their contribution to use his or her name and/or image and voice for the purpose of diffusion on the services.

In return for the use of the services, the user releases to Expat.com, free of charge, their rights in their contributions to the forum, for the following operations:

• Reproduction, in part or as a whole, of their contributions, their integration, and communication on the Expat.com website and applications, accompanied or not by other content, and their communication to the public by any means of communication known or unknown to date.
• Anonymization of contributions.

This disposition is free of charge worldwide. In case an account is deleted, Expat.com reserves the right to preserve the contributions of its members, which will then be displayed as anonymous on the website.

Clearly illegal content and duty of care

The Member is invited to report any illegal content as explained below.

Any content is considered to be illegal if:

• It is considered as a violation to intellectual property rights or personality rights; for example, content without the authorisation of the authors and producers or represented persons, entirely or in extracts, cinematographic or audio-visual works, music videos, a person in the context of their private life or infringing their right to the image.
• It is likely to disrupt public order, respect for a person or their dignity, equality between women and men, and the protection of children and teenagers.
• It encourages crime, trade and consumption of prohibited substances, prostitution, terrorism, sexual assault, theft, suicide, violence, deliberate damage and deterioration that can be a hazard to people, interfere in the course of justice, etc..
• It constitutes an argument for, or denies or challenges war crimes, and/or crimes against humanity.
• It encourages or prompts hatred or violence against a person or groups of people, including on the basis of their origin, ethnicity, nationality, race, or religion, their disability, their sexual preferences, or any other difference.
• It is considered as rude, insulting, or defaming to others, including but not limited to materials by reference to people's origin, ethnicity, nationality, race, religion, disability, sexual preference, or any other difference.
• It contains pornographic materials, child pornographic materials, or solicits the exchange, sale, or purchase of pornographic or child pornographic materials, including but not limited to photographs, films, videos, and images, whether realistic or not.

The member can report any obviously illegal content via the "Report" button provided for this purpose.

Expat.com commits to respond promptly to any report, made in an appropriate manner and clearly justified, and to take all necessary measures, in particular to remove the contentious content or to make it inaccessible and to exclude its author from Expat.com, including, in appropriate cases, block the user's or member's access to the services where we determine that the user or member has acted in contravention of the law or these General Conditions of Use.

Updates to the general conditions

We are regularly working to improve our services and the Expat.com website features. As a result, we may need to update these conditions occasionally so that they reflect our services and practices. When these updates have an impact on the use of the website, you will be notified and given the opportunity to read the revised conditions. We will specify the changes for better understanding. By choosing to continue using our services you thereby accept the revised conditions. Users who do not agree to these Terms & Conditions of Use must not use the Expat.com website.

Confidential information

Confidential information means any data, information, document, software, or material relating directly or indirectly to the business affairs of Expat.com, its members, affiliates, licensors or licensees, which is designated as confidential or could reasonably be considered as confidential, including but not limited to: their business model and operations, processing, products, designs, pricing, promotions, business plans, business opportunities, finance, research, development, know-how, secrets, training materials, staff, identity or personal information of any kind belonging to members, clients, methodologies, third-party content of the website and other intellectual property.

You acknowledge that any confidential information obtained by you when adhering to these General Conditions of Use and the use of the Expat.com website constitutes valid and confidential information which is the property of Expat.com and its assignors, and accept that you will not disclose any confidential information without Expat.com's written consent, use or make known to any other person such confidential information, except as specifically mentioned in these General Conditions of Use or as permitted by the applicable law.

The user's IP address will be stored in the Expat.com website's database and may be disclosed to competent authorities for the detection and prosecution of offences, or if so required by a court order. The user agrees that all the information provided to the Expat.com website is stored in the website's database. Although this information is not communicated by the Expat.com website to a third party without the user's consent, Expat.com cannot be held responsible for any hacking attempt to compromise the data beyond its control. To the extent required by the Mauritian data protection law, we implement security and organisational measures to protect your personal data.

Inactive account

An account is considered as inactive when no activity has been conducted using the account over a period of one year, on and off Expat.com (e.g., on Expat.com platform, accessing or reading newsletter accessed through Expat.com website, Expat.com presence on social networks). An inactive account is not deleted but remains visible to Expat.com members and visitors. However, ads and events are archived. In addition, the inactive account does not receive our emails and is not put forward on the "Members" section.

An inactive account can be reactivated when a new connection has been recorded using the account credentials. Nevertheless, classified ads will no longer be available.

Legal basis of data processing

The processing of personal data implemented by Expat.com as a data controller and data processor, is based on the execution of a contract to which the registered member is a party (General Terms and Conditions of Use); the execution of pre-contractual measures taken at the request of the latter (creation of the Expat.com account, request for quotation); and the prior consent of the users concerning the cookies (see our Cookie Policy). The legal basis for the retention and communication of data to identify any person who has contributed to the creation of content on the Expat.com website is a legal requirement to which the processor is bound. The legal basis for processing your data for the purposes of responding to a contact request or for marketing purposes is the legitimate interest of the processor. More information on the use of your data for marketing purposes are mentioned below.

Our contact details are:

Expat blog Limit�e
17 Vishnu Kchetra Street
Port Louis
Mauritius

Tel : +230 213 49 82 (non-surcharged call)
Email : contact@expat.com

Expat.com is not required to designate a representative in the European Union, as the data processing it carries on is occasional, does not include processing, on a large scale, of special categories of personal data or the processing of personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences, and is unlikely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms.

Your use of the Expat.com website

We may collect information in regards to how you use our products and services, such as the type of content you see or interact with; the features you use; the actions you take; the people you interact with; the duration, frequency, and date of your visits. This information allows us to offer you an improved user experience and to suggest features, content, or profiles adapted to your browsing and preferences. We will collect your Internet Protocol address when you complete a form or register as a member. This data helps us determine your geographic location and it can be used as a security measure to fight unsolicited commercial communications (commonly known as 'spam').

Financial transactions

If you make a financial transaction with Expat.com through our platform or through a third party, we may collect your personal data in regards to the purchase.

Electronic devices

We collect the information about what type of device you are using when you are connecting to our Website. This information will allow us to perform browsing and performance analysis, to provide you with an improved user experience.

Third Party Partner Information

We use partners to conduct research and analysis on how our platform is used. We also use partners to distribute and display promotional and informational advertising and messages on and off the Website. The partners are Google (DFP, Analytics), Facebook, and Optinmonster.

Cookies, web tokens, and other similar technologies

You can consult our Cookies Policy.

Improvement of our services

We will use your personal information to improve our services and products with the objective of providing you with an optimized user experience.

Communications

We use the information collected to display or send you communications which may be of interest to you. This includes:

• A newsletter, which keeps you informed on the latest updates on the platform, provides you with customized advertisements and offers you best-in-class tips to make your project a success. At any time, you can unsubscribe from the newsletter, but you will not receive useful and relevant content any more, which may make your project harder to achieve.
• Electronic communications, inviting expatriates to share their experience on the forum and where soon-to-be-expatriates are invited to read the advice provided by expatriates.
• Emails promoting products and services from our commercial partners, which are adapted to their profile, project or behavior on the site.
• Emails or notifications where members are invited to take part of specific events or webinars.

Analysis and Research

We may use your personal data to assess the quality of the services we and our partners offer you, and to obtain statistics on the use and browsing of Expat.com.

Advertisement

We may use your personal data to promote our products and services, as well as those of our partners and customers.

Security and Investigations

We may use your personal data to check account activity, take the appropriate action in case of improper conduct, detect spammers and scammers, maintain the integrity of our website, and ensure a high level of security of personal data.

Marketing & Commercial Activities

By using our services on the Expat.com website, you agree that we may use your personal data to carry out marketing and commercial activities with business prospects.

Profiling Activities

We may conduct profiling activities based on your personal data in order to provide you with the right platform interface and send you relevant communications.

Profile

Your profile allows you to be visible on and make the most of our website.

You may decide whether or not to share your profile data with all of our community and visitors. The authorized staff of Expat.com can access your profile data to customize your experience, to contact you, and as part of audit and security operations.

Posts, Likes, Comments

The data shared on the Website, including posts, announcements, or comments, are public and accessible to all.

Posts can be deleted by the author within one hour of posting. After an hour, and in order to fight spam, authors should contact the Expat.com by using the contact form.

Private Messages

Your private messages are only visible by its recipient and the sender. However, the authorized staff of Expat.com may be required to have access to private messages at the request of the recipient to prevent spam, scams, and other inappropriate behavior or by the relevant government body for the purposes of detecting and prosecuting criminal offenses or if required to do by a court order.

Contact forms

We use contact forms to collect the necessary data to communicate with you. The only recipients of your data are the Expat.com staff authorized to respond to your request for information. We use contact forms and forms on the Service Directory to collect the necessary data to connect with commercial and/or institutional partners. The forms received also allow us to respond to the requests as well as to build and operate a database for commercial purposes. We use contact forms on and off the Expat Website to validate your registration and to give you access to Webinars or online events. The forms received allow us to provide you with the services for which you have registered, to send you relevant messages, and to offer services that are complementary or adapted to your behavior on and off the Expat.com website. The recipients of this data are the authorized staff of Expat.com, and the sponsor(s) and/or contributors.

We use contact forms on and off the Expat.com website to register for events. These forms allow us to validate your registration and facilitate your participation in the event. The recipients of this data are the authorized staff of Expat.com, and the sponsor(s) and/or contributors.

We collect personal data as part of our intermediary activity with service providers (for example: Health Insurance, International Movers). The personal data that we collect is required by the companies with whom we work to provide the services you are interested to obtain. Forms are designed to encourage a more personalized interaction, and to offer a tailored quote. The data collected also allow us to carry out analysis and research, such as satisfaction surveys and to create database of similar profiles. Finally, this information allows us to display relevant advertising and promotional information. By using our services you agree that for the purposes of obtaining any services which we promote on our website you accept to us sending your personal data to our partners, whether within or outside Mauritius.

Advertisement

Advertisement campaign reporting is anonymous and shared only with our advertisers, and is accessible by authorized Expat.com staff.

Premium Account

The information collected for premium accounts and published in the business directory is public.

Payment information for customers who have subscribed to a premium account may be accessible by the authorized staff of Expat.com.

Member's profile

Your profile information is kept as long as you are a member and until the account is deleted.

Posts, Likes, Comments

Until the account is deleted, with the exception of posts and comments on the forum, which can continue to be used anonymously by Expat.com once the account is deleted.

Private Messages

Your private messages are kept until your account is deleted.

Data from Contact Forms

Data sent on the Contact Forms are kept until the purposes for which they were submitted no longer exist.

Data sent by professionals acting on behalf of a company, organization, or institution is stored according to the statutory limitation period.

Advertising Performance Report

Performance reports of the Advertisements do not contain personal reference information. They are kept for archival and statistical purposes for an indefinite period.

Data from quote requests or service registrations

Data from quote requests are stored for a period of 13 months, with the exception of email addresses, which are stored for two years for the sole purpose of creating similar audiences and offering products and services tailored to your profile. You also have the possibility to request to be removed from our database by contacting us at: contact@expat.com.

Data from premium accounts

Until the end of the subscription period Expat.com does not store data related to payment transactions.

Other type of content

Ads posted by members on the platform on the "Classifieds", "Jobs" and "Housing" sections are stored for a period not exceeding 12 months.

Ads posted by members on the other sections are kept until their account is deleted.

Authentication cookies

These cookies allow you to connect to the website and log in as a member during your visit.

Persistent cookies

These cookies customise and save your browsing preference (e.g. maintaining the user's preferred language from one page to another).

Advertising cookies

These cookies are used to display targeted ads based on the analysis of your browsing experience on the Expat.com website.

Social network sharing buttons

These cookies allow you to share content from the Expat.com website on social media platforms.

Audience measurement and target cookies

Audience measurement cookies help us better understand our users' behaviour and to get to know the Expat.com website's audience. Analysing data collected via these cookies helps to improve the website and allow our partners to check if we have displayed their ads on our website.

Target cookies are ad prospection pixels as well as retargeting services pixels which indicate whether users have made any specific actions after seeing an ad or clicking on it. These services use cookies to link an action to a user.

Expat Blog Limitée (Expat.com) uses different target cookies such as Google AdWords Conversion, Google Dynamic Remarketing and Google Double Click which are managed by Google; and Facebook Custom Audience which are managed by Facebook Inc., 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA ("Facebook"); and Optinmonster Cookies.

Via your browser

You can object to the installation of a third-party cookie via your browser. In general, the configuration of internet browsers is set to accept cookies by default. The users can freely express their choice by using the options provided by the browser they are using. These settings allow the user to accept or block cookies either on a case-by-case basis or systematically.

Cookies are managed in different ways by various internet browsers. Below are some tips on how to manage cookies on your preferred internet browser.

CHROME:

Menu> Settings> Show advanced settings (located at the bottom of the page).

Click on the "Content settings" button and then check the "Block cookies and data from third-party websites" box. Click on "OK" to confirm your choice.

FIREFOX:

Menu> Options> "Privacy" tab

Set the "Retention rules" menu to "Use custom settings for history".

Uncheck the "Accept third-party cookies" box.

INTERNET EXPLORER:

Menu> Internet Options> "Privacy" tab and the Advanced button to bring up the Advanced Privacy Settings window.

Check the "Ignore automatic cookie management" box and select "Decline" in the "Third-party cookies" column.

Choosing online

Operation cookies used by Expat.com cannot be disabled. These cookies belong to the following categories:

• Authentication and Session ID
• Security
• Preferences
• Features and services

To set up the use of cookies used by Google Ads, please visit: https://www.google.com/settings/u/0/ads/authenticated?hl=en

Our audience measurement tool (Google Analytics) allows the management of your data directly from the following page: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

Social networks use cookies to enhance user experience. If you would like to modify the use of cookies by social networks, refer to these companies' websites.

Find more information on the following pages:

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/help/cookies/

Twitter : https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/twitter-cookies

LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/legal/cookie_policy

Google : https://privacy.google.com/?hl=en