1. Who this policy applies to

This Privacy Policy explains how The Live Market processes personal data when people use our websites, marketplace, business tools, account services, support channels, and related platform features.

2. Our role

Depending on the service, The Live Market may act as an independent controller, a joint participant in a platform workflow, or a processor for an organisation using TLM business tools. Where an organisation uses TLM to manage its own customers, orders, bookings, staff, or communications, that organisation may also be responsible for how it collects and uses the personal data in its workspace.

3. Personal data we collect

• Account and profile data, such as name, email address, phone number, login identifiers, organisation membership, role, and preferences.
• Marketplace activity, such as searches, directory interactions, enquiries, bookings, reservations, orders, carts, event or ticket activity, and service requests.
• Business workflow data entered by organisations, including customer records, appointment details, invoices, quotes, product data, communications, files, notes, and operational history.
• Device, security, and usage data, such as IP address, browser type, approximate location derived from technical data, logs, cookie identifiers, session events, and error diagnostics.
• Support and communication data, including contact form submissions, support chat messages, emails, notification preferences, and consent records.

4. How we use personal data

• To provide and secure accounts, authentication, platform sessions, role-based access, and fraud prevention.
• To operate marketplace features, including discovery, listings, booking, reservations, enquiries, orders, offers, jobs, events, tickets, reviews, and customer-business communications.
• To provide business tools for organisations, including CRM, appointment management, restaurant and commerce workflows, inventory, documents, analytics, and operational notifications.
• To respond to support requests, contact forms, technical issues, disputes, and service communications.
• To improve reliability, usability, performance, and safety of the platform, including analytics, troubleshooting, testing, and product development.
• To comply with legal obligations, enforce our terms, preserve evidence of consents and transactions, and protect the rights, safety, and security of users, organisations, and TLM.

5. Legal bases

Where EU or Malta data protection law applies, we rely on one or more lawful bases for processing, depending on the context.

• Contract, when processing is needed to provide accounts, platform features, marketplace actions, business tools, or requested support.
• Legitimate interests, when processing is needed to operate, secure, improve, and protect the platform in a way that is balanced against individual rights.
• Consent, where required for non-essential cookies, certain marketing communications, or optional features.
• Legal obligation, where processing is needed for records, compliance, regulatory requests, accounting, dispute handling, or security obligations.

6. Sharing personal data

• With organisations or customers involved in a transaction, booking, enquiry, reservation, order, event, job application, or other platform workflow.
• With service providers that host, secure, monitor, deliver, support, or analyse the platform under appropriate confidentiality and data-processing terms.
• With payment, communication, authentication, mapping, analytics, or customer-support providers where those services are used.
• With professional advisers, authorities, courts, regulators, or counterparties where required to protect rights, comply with law, or resolve disputes.
• With another entity if there is a business transfer, restructuring, merger, financing, or similar corporate event, subject to appropriate safeguards.

7. International transfers

Some providers or infrastructure may process data outside Malta or the European Economic Area. Where required, we use appropriate transfer safeguards, such as adequacy decisions, standard contractual clauses, contractual commitments, technical controls, and provider due diligence.

8. Retention

We keep personal data for as long as needed for the purposes described in this policy, including to provide services, maintain business records, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, preserve security logs, and enforce agreements. Retention periods vary by data type and context. Where data is no longer needed, we delete it, anonymise it, or restrict access according to operational and legal requirements.

9. Security

We use technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal data, including access controls, authentication, auditability, encryption in transit where appropriate, monitoring, backups, and separation between public and business workflows. No system is completely secure, so users and organisations should keep account credentials confidential and notify us promptly of suspected misuse.

10. Your rights

Subject to legal limits, you may have rights to request access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability, objection to certain processing, withdrawal of consent, and review of certain automated processing. To make a privacy request, contact us at contact@thelivemarket.com. We may need to verify your identity and may direct you to the relevant organisation if it controls the data in question.

11. Cookies and similar technologies

We use cookies and similar storage for authentication, security, preferences, diagnostics, and optional support or analytics features. Non-essential cookies should only be used after consent where required. More detail is available in our Cookie Policy.

12. Children

The platform is not intended for children who cannot lawfully use online services without parental or guardian consent. If we learn that we have collected personal data from a child without an appropriate basis, we will take reasonable steps to delete or restrict that data.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the platform, law, or operational practices change. Material updates will be reflected on this page. Continued use of the platform after an update means the updated policy applies from its stated effective date.

14. Contact

For privacy questions or requests, contact The Live Market at contact@thelivemarket.com.