ICQ – stay connected

March 03, 2022

LLC VK (registered at Moscow, Leningradskiy prospect, 39, bldg. 79, 125167), hereinafter “we”, “our” or “us”, assures that it will protect and observe the confidentiality of information received by us in the process of using ICQ Services by users.

The following Privacy Policy applies to your use of the ICQ Services (as defined below). The ICQ Services improves your online experience by offering you access to a variety of features, offerings and content including, the ICQ instant messaging software for desktop and mobile, the ICQ Web site, the ICQ Toolbar, development tools and any other ICQ application, plug-in, service, software, component, functionality, program provided by ICQ (collectively the "ICQ Services" or "Services").

This Policy is an integral part of the Mail.ru Services Privacy Policy posted at: https://help.mail.ru/legal/terms/common/privacy. This Policy contains special rules that describe the conditions for using information about Users of the ICQ Services. These rules have a direct effect and priority over the rules contained in the Privacy Policy of Mail.ru Services and other rules governing the operation of ICQ Services.

In the absence of provisions in this Policy that fully determine (disclose) the conditions for processing information about Users of the ICQ Services, the provisions of the Privacy Policy of Mail.ru Services are applied.

Your ongoing use of the ICQ Services signifies your consent to the information practices disclosed in this Privacy Policy. If you object to any provision of this Privacy Policy please do not proceed with registration and please do not use the ICQ Services.

Collection of your ICQ Services Information

ICQ may collect certain information about you when you interact with the ICQ Services. Depending on how you use the ICQ Services, your “ICQ Services Information” may include:

Registration-related information (such as name, home or work addresses, e-mail addresses, telephone and fax numbers, birth date or gender);
Information made available by you in Public Areas (as defined below);
Information about your visits to the various ICQ Services, and your responses to the offerings and advertisements presented on these ICQ Services;
Information about the searches you perform through the ICQ Services and how you use the results of those searches;
Information about the ICQ Services, offerings and features that you use, including, without limitation, how frequently you use them
Transaction-related information;
Customer service information about you as an ICQ Services user or subscriber;
Data regarding your location for the purpose of enabling location based services
Information about mobile devices used to access ICQ including UDID (Unique Device Identifier)
Certain technical information gathered or received when you use the ICQ Services, including, without limitation, browser type, operating system, connectivity, IP address, geographic location, and ISP
If you are using ICQ Mobile ICQ may collect and store the address book (names and phone numbers only) on your mobile phone. ICQ will use such address book solely for the following purposes:
To identify if anyone on your address book is using ICQ and to inform you of such use by such user
To inform you when someone in your address book registers to ICQ
To integrate such users into your ICQ contact list and enable you to communicate with those contacts in your address book that have registered to ICQ.

In addition, many software versions provided by ICQ ("Software") are configured to automatically report back information relating to computer errors arising in connection with use of the Software, without notice to you. Information on your Software configuration settings may be included. This data is sent to ICQ to help us diagnose performance issues with, and improve, the Software.

Your ICQ Services Information may be supplemented with additional information from other companies.

How Your ICQ Services Information is Used

Your ICQ Services Information is used to:

Operate and improve the Software, Web sites, services and offerings available through the ICQ Services;
Provide to you personalized content, services and advertisements;
Fulfill your requests for products, programs, and services;
Communicate with you and respond to your inquiries;
Conduct research about your use of the ICQ Services;
Send you materials regarding ICQ products, programs, or services that may be of interest to you, including any new services, products or value added services;
We can transfer your phone number to our service clientapi.mail.ru for the purpose of validation and spam counteraction.

ICQ may also use cookies, web beacons, or similar technologies in combination with your ICQ Services information to enhance and personalize your experience on the ICQ Services, including, without limitation, to operate and improve offerings through the ICQ Services; to help authenticate you when you use the ICQ Services; to remember your preferences and registration information;; to present and help measure and research the effectiveness of ICQ Services offerings, advertisements, and e-mail communications (by determining which Network e-mails you open and act upon); and to customize the content and advertisements provided to you through the ICQ Services.

A cookie is a small text file transferred to your computer that records information about your preferences and use of services. Such cookies may also include cookies which help ICQ to identify your location while others may assist ICQ in remembering certain settings that you have chosen. Web beacons are small pieces of code placed on Web pages that can be used, among other things, to count the users who visit that Web page, or to deliver a cookie to the browser of a user viewing that page. You can control cookies through your browser's settings. If you reject all cookies, however, you may not be able to take advantage of many of the ICQ Services offerings.

In order to provide you with certain services, and except as specified below, ICQ may share with third parties certain information that is not personally identifiable. Any personal identifiable information may be shared with third parties when:

We have your prior consent to disclose such information;
We need to disclose such information to fulfill a transaction you have requested;
(i) We are required to disclose such information to authorized officers of the court in order to comply with valid legal process or (ii) to act in other circumstances in which ICQ believes the ICQ Services is being used illegally or in the commission of a crime or (iii) when we have a good faith belief that there is an emergency that poses a threat to the safety of you or another person; or (iv) when necessary either to protect the rights or property of ICQ or its users (v) or to enforce and/or investigate terms of service violations. In such cases the contents of your online communications, as well as other information about you as an ICQ Services user (e.g. IP address), may be disclosed
We need to send such information to a third party contractor, company, partner or affiliated company which works with ICQ in helping us operate the ICQ Services and provide our services to you. In such circumstances we will only provide these companies with the information they need to deliver the service;
As otherwise specified in this Privacy Policy.

Please be aware that any information you may have published in a public area (Public Area) may be accessible to ICQ or third parties and used by ICQ or such third parties. Therefore carefully consider whether you wish such information to be accessible. Public area’s may include your user profile (depending on the level of your privacy settings) any blogs, message boards, forums or similar services made available through the ICQ Services. Additionally any information you choose to provide on a "Co-Branded" page or through a "Co-Branded" service will be handled by either party and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and the third party privacy policy. A "Co-Branded" page or service is a page or service which bears both the ICQ and third party names, branding, graphics or anything else which makes it clear you are viewing a Co-Branded service, including if the service is “Provided by” or “Powered by” a third party. Please make sure to read both the partner's and ICQ's privacy policies before entering or providing information to a Co-Branded page or service.
In the event that ownership of the ICQ Services was to change as a result of a merger, acquisition or transfer to another company, your ICQ Services information may be transferred.

Furthermore, when a user registers to the ICQ Services such user will be searchable through the ICQ public directories. ICQ users may search the ICQ directories for other users based on the information provided by such users, including, name, ICQ#, phone number etc. and add such users to their contact list. Once a user has added you to their contact list they may view your online/offline presence unless otherwise selected via your security and privacy settings. Please note that if you’ve registered through a mobile device using your phone number then any other ICQ user that has your phone number in their address book may be able to view your online presence regardless of your security and privacy settings.

ICQ Account and Password

The holder of an ICQ account and password has the ability and discretion to edit the user details provided in the user profile for such account. For this reason and other reasons it is very important to choose a difficult password, to keep your password in a safe place and to use updated anti-virus software. It is your responsibility to keep your password and username secure.

Advertising and Added Value Services

ICQ may display various types of advertising to you throughout the ICQ Services and may provide you with certain added value services to enhance your Web browsing experience (i.e. a comparison shopping feature). Certain advertising and added value services displayed may be based, among other things, on certain keywords you’ve entered, search queries, interests added to your profile (or other locations within the ICQ Service), or the content of a Website that you are viewing. For example, when visiting a sports Website ICQ may present you with ads related to sports gear or when viewing a camera on a certain ecommerce site ICQ may present with you alternative prices from other web sites.
In addition ICQ and its advertisers may use ad network providers and other service providers, to help present customized content and advertisements on the ICQ Services and other Web sites. These providers may use cookies, web beacons, or similar technologies on your computer to help present, better target, and measure the effectiveness of their content and advertisements, using data gathered over time and across their networks of Web pages to determine or predict the characteristics and preferences of their audience. The ICQ Services may share certain non-personally identifiable information about you as an ICQ Services user (such as age or zip code) with certain ad network and service providers, to help them deliver more relevant content and advertisements through their networks.

Our Commitment to Security

ICQ has established safeguards to help prevent unauthorized access to or misuse of your ICQ Services Information, but cannot guarantee that your personally identifiable information will never be disclosed (for example, as a result of unauthorized acts by third parties that violate applicable law or the policies of the ICQ Services and its affiliated providers).

General Internet Hazards

You should be aware that receiving files from third parties, via any application (e.g. ICQ, email, etc.) may be harmful. Before receiving any files from any user, and even if the account from which the file transfer notice is sent looks familiar to you, it is strongly recommended that you verify that the person sending you these files is indeed the person you think he is, for example by asking him for some kind of information known only to the two of you. Please make sure not to receive files from users you do not trust, from users you are not sure they are whom they say they are or whenever you are not sure you want to receive the files.

Governing Law

This Agreement and the Terms of Service shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation, excluding its conflicts-of-law rules. Please note that your use of the ICQ Services may be subject to other local, state, national, and international laws. You expressly agree that exclusive jurisdiction for any claim or dispute with ICQ or relating in any way to your use of the ICQ Services resides in the courts of the Russian Federation in connection with any such dispute including any claim involving ICQ or its affiliates, subsidiaries, employees, contractors, officers, directors, telecommunication providers and content providers.

Special Note for Parents or Legal Guardians

Parents and guardians who would like to permit their children to use the ICQ Services should assist them in setting up their ICQ account and supervise their use of the ICQ Services. The ICQ Services may contain certain content that is not appropriate for children. As parents and guardians it is your responsibility to supervise your children’s use of the ICQ Services and restrict any use of ICQ Services which may not be appropriate for your child.

How to Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about the ICQ Services Privacy Policy or its implementation, you may contact us at this email address: [email protected]

Changes to this Privacy Policy and Additional Information

ICQ may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, therefore you should review this Policy periodically.