Terms of service

Terms and Conditions

At Melica, we understand the protection of personal data as an opportunity to generate value for our users. By responsibly using personal information, we not only protect the privacy of those who have entrusted us with their data but also allow them to operate securely and confidently on our website.

That is why your privacy is very important to us, and we strive to protect it.

Melica, in order to provide its services, processes, collects, and in some cases, discloses information about individuals who, like you, are users and visitors of our platforms, as detailed here (the "Platforms" and the "Services," respectively). This Privacy and Information Confidentiality Statement of Melica (the "Privacy Statement") describes the information Melica collects and processes about you and what we can do with it.

This Privacy Statement is part of Melica's General Terms and Conditions. Providing your voluntary, express, and informed consent to this Privacy Statement is an essential requirement to contract and/or have any relationship with Melica, depending on the applicable legislation in each country.

1. Application of this Privacy Statement

It is important to note that when you register on our platform, you create a user account that will allow you to operate on our website.

This Privacy Statement applies to all services and data processing operations by Melica, whether it concerns Melica or its current or future subsidiaries or affiliates.

We believe it is important to emphasize that Melica’s services and platform are intended for users located in countries where Melica has a presence or operation, for example, through a country-specific website.

2. Responsible for Processing Personal Information

Melica is responsible for processing the data of users and visitors on its platform through its subsidiary or affiliate companies.

The data controller is the one who decides on the processing of personal data. They determine the purposes or uses for which personal information will be used and the means that will be used for such processing.

3. Collection of Personal Information

Melica collects your personal information so that you can enjoy our services and continuously improve them.

In some cases, the information is provided by you when you register or provide information while using our services. In others, we collect it automatically, such as when you browse our pages and use our services. We may also collect information about you from other trusted sources.

You are not required to provide the personal information detailed below; however, this is an essential requirement to contract and/or have any relationship with Melica. If you do not provide this information, we will not be able to offer you our services, or our ability to do so may be significantly hindered. The inaccuracy or falsity of the personal data you provide could result in the suspension of services. Likewise, Melica may suspend or permanently disable users who violate this Privacy Statement.

Here are the types of data we may collect:

3.1. Information you provide directly when registering or using our services:

  • Nickname or pseudonym to operate on Melica platforms
  • Full name, personal image (personal photo or document photo)
  • Valid document or identification number
  • Contact information (such as phone number, address, email address)
  • Bank account information
  • Payment information and methods
  • Biometric data, such as facial biometric analysis for identity validation

3.2. Information we collect automatically, whether registered or not:

  • Information from devices or computers from which you access Melica’s platform and other data captured automatically (such as the type or version of your browser or operating system, settings, connection data, information about some of the downloaded applications, and parameters).
  • IP address used when connecting to our services or browsing our websites.
  • Transactional information and movements within Melica’s platforms (purchases, payments, returns, questions, transfers, money advances, claims, billing, tax data, digital account ID codes, bank accounts, internal messaging).
  • Certain information about user and visitor activity on our website, such as the URL they came from or the URL they access afterward (whether or not on our website). This also includes visited pages, interactions with those pages, searches conducted, posts, purchases or sales, entered ratings and replies, filed and received claims, forum messages, and other information that may be stored and retained.
  • Information about your location (geolocation), which may be used to offer discounts, product pickup options, find businesses with QR-enabled payment, among others.
  • Links between accounts and users for fraud prevention purposes.
  • Data for claims and legal management (information for document preparation, backgrounds, and strategies).

If you have not registered or accessed through your Personal Account, Melica will only collect and store your mobile phone numbers, your email address, and any emails you send to us, in addition to the information mentioned above.

3.3. Information we collect from other sources:

  • Information collected for fraud prevention purposes and compliance with regulatory regimes (PEPs lists, OFAC, etc.).
  • Credit information, both positive and negative, obtained from credit risk databases or telecom companies and/or from publicly accessible sources, in accordance with applicable laws.
  • Data used for identity validation, completing or correcting information, obtained from reliable and secure sources such as public organizations, service providers, or commercial partners with whom we work.

In some cases, this information may be considered sensitive according to applicable law. In such cases, we will ask for your explicit consent to process it.

4. Processing of Personal Information

The collection and processing of your personal information allow us to provide you with excellent service so that you can carry out transactions quickly and securely and offer functionalities that best suit your needs. Except in cases where applicable regulations prohibit it, Melica may use your personal information for the following purposes:

  • Provide the products, services, and/or benefits offered on Melica’s platform.
  • Identify and contact you.
  • Register you in our systems.
  • Verify your identity in compliance with legal requirements.
  • Validate, update, and correct your information.
  • Provide you with the products, services, and/or benefits that you request or contract with us.
  • Facilitate direct contact between the buyer and seller for the transaction you wish to complete.
  • Keep a record of the operations you perform, inform you about them, and provide follow-up.
  • Make our e-commerce platform available to you.
  • Respond to your comments, complaints, and suggestions, and provide customer support.
  • Check and report positive and negative data to credit bureaus, carry out commercial and/or credit risk verification tasks, analyze the viability of entering or maintaining a commercial relationship, and create profiles for credit analysis purposes.
  • Offer and manage the credit or insurance products you request or contract with us.
  • Judicial and/or extrajudicial collections.
  • Facilitate the shipment of products listed on websites, applications, and other e-commerce platforms operated by Melica or those using its technologies.
  • Offer you services and functionalities that better suit your needs, and personalize our services to make your experience with Melica as comfortable as possible.
  • Enable your participation in contests, auctions, or lotteries, in case they apply to you, and notify you if you win, always in compliance with applicable regulations regarding contests and lotteries.
  • Contribute to the security of the relationships, communications, and transactions between users of our platform.
  • Develop a user reputation system for the benefit of consumers.
  • Improve our services, develop new ones, and offer you a better experience on Melica’s platforms.
  • Develop internal studies and statistical analyses of your interests and behaviors to offer better services and products.
  • Create profiles through the analysis of various variables, such as behavior or interactions within the platform, the analysis and prediction of economic capacity, preferences, interests, transaction history, behavior, and location, among others, to improve our commercial and promotional initiatives, show you advertisements or promotions, banners of interest, news about Melica, improve our content and product offerings, and personalize these contents, presentation, and services.
  • Offer you services and functionalities that suit your needs to give you a better experience.
  • Improve our commercial and promotional initiatives and analyze the pages visited by users, the searches they conduct, to improve our content offerings and products, personalize those contents, their presentation, and services.
  • Train independent consultants to improve their service offering to Melica users.
  • Provide you with information through different channels (by email, short text messages (SMS), phone calls, or any other medium) about improvements or new functions or services on the platform.
  • Build your loyalty through a benefits program.
  • Allow third parties to build applications that use platform content and interact with it to facilitate, enhance, and/or improve its use and the overall services provided by Melica.

Comply with legal obligations and requests from competent authorities:

    • Comply with the regulations applicable to Melica in general.
    • Compliance with Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Prevention regulations (identity validation actions, user verification, identity verification against Politically Exposed Persons, profile verification, and transactional history in compliance with anti-money laundering regulations, verification against OFAC lists and others), as applicable in each country.
    • Compliance with reporting requirements, as applicable in each country.
    • Compliance with tax collection, registration, information, audit, and billing regulations, at any level of government (for example: federal, state, and municipal levels).
    • Compliance with requests for information from competent administrative or judicial authorities.
    • Provide user information to government entities with cooperation agreements to enforce their powers.

Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and related crimes to protect the security of our users and the sustainability of the platforms:

    • Grow the platforms sustainably and securely through tools and fraud prevention actions and related crimes.
    • Train the automated fraud detection and prevention algorithm model.

Protect the rights of users, third parties, or Melica itself:

    • Defend the rights and tangible and intangible assets of Melica.
    • Enforce Melica’s rights in the event of non-compliance with its Terms and Conditions.
    • Allow other users or third parties to assert their rights.

Collaborate with intellectual property holders in exercising their rights:

    • Collaborate in protecting intellectual or industrial property rights, whether ours or third parties’, by investigating trademark and patent violations, as well as counterfeit goods.
    • Collaborate with the trademark holder by providing the personal information of sellers who are reported so that they can assert their corresponding rights.
    • Facilitate the resolution of disputes between sellers and claimants.
    • Collaborate with entities involved in dispute resolution.
    • Collaborate with private entities representing collective interests with cooperation agreements to facilitate the resolution of disputes.

5. Protection of Personal Information

The protection of your privacy is very important to Melica. For this reason, we do not sell or trade information that identifies our users. We also do not share or transfer your personal information to third parties, except as indicated below:

Melica may assign, transmit, and/or transfer your personal information to:

(i) Service Providers: Third-party service providers we hire to act on behalf of Melica, following our instructions and in accordance with this Privacy Statement, to help improve or facilitate operations on our platform. These providers include: (a) transportation, logistics, courier, and shipping companies to deliver the products you purchased, (b) payment processors, intermediaries in payment management, or insurers to process payments for services or products and provide protection for purchased products, (c) IT service providers, cloud service providers, database providers, and general technology service providers, (d) customer service centers, (e) companies managing loyalty programs to grant you benefits, (f) advertising or marketing agencies, (g) data analytics companies, (h) collection agencies, (i) government entities or companies specialized in risk verification. These Service Providers only access the strictly necessary information to provide the agreed services and cannot use it for purposes other than those instructed by Melica.

(ii) Business Partners: Companies with commercial activities that have a collaborative or partnership relationship with Melica, offering you promotions, products, and services from those companies or co-branded offerings. Melica ensures that confidentiality and security standards are met through agreements or contracts that protect user personal data and comply with applicable laws.

(iii) Melica Group: Companies within our corporate group, operating under the same internal processes and policies, whether controlled, controlling, or affiliated with Melica, to comply with internal regulations, prevent fraud, manage risks, and facilitate the management of Melica’s services and products.

(iv) Counterparty in the Transaction: Other users of Melica platforms, as per the conditions outlined, to connect buyers and sellers for the transaction they wish to carry out.

(v) Public Authorities: Administrative and judicial authorities that, in the exercise of their powers, require information, even without an executive or judicial order, for the following purposes: (a) assist in investigating and reporting fraud, piracy, intellectual or industrial property violations, or any other illegal activity, as well as any circumstance that could generate legal liability for Melica and/or its users; (b) safeguard a public interest, enforce justice, exercise, or defend a right in a judicial or administrative process, and/or resolve disputes; (c) comply with any law, regulation, or legal provision, or with any justified order from a competent authority.

(vi) Dispute Participants: Authorities, courts, or entities involved in dispute resolution, to resolve conflicts between users or between users and any of Melica's subsidiaries.

(vii) Users and/or Visitors in General: Other users and/or visitors of our platform, to enhance consumer service by providing information to make informed purchase decisions. The platform will publish sales numbers by the seller, as well as reputation, customer service quality, buyer reviews (the content of which is not the responsibility of Melica), and delivery timeliness.

(viii) Public and/or Private Entities Providing Credit Information Services: Melica may, as long as applicable law permits, share credit-related information about your behavior or compliance with financial obligations with public or private entities that provide credit or risk information services.

Melica may also disclose your personal information at its discretion to other users or third parties when there are sufficient reasons to believe that your activity is suspicious, that you are attempting or committing a crime, or attempting to harm others.

If Melica decides to share your personal information with third parties other than those mentioned, we will request your prior and express consent, unless there is legal authorization or obligation to do so without such consent.

You also expressly and informedly consent to Melica assigning, transmitting, or transferring your personal information to the recipients detailed in this Privacy Statement.

Finally, Melica is not responsible for the misuse of your personal information by any third party when such third parties are directly collecting and/or processing your personal information.

6. International Data Transfers

The services provided by Melica require the support of a technological infrastructure, such as servers and cloud services, which may be owned or provided by third parties.

Part of this infrastructure may be located in a country different from yours.

It is also possible that the recipients of the data mentioned earlier are located in a different country.

The countries receiving the data we transfer may not offer adequate levels of protection for personal data in accordance with applicable regulations.

In such cases, Melica adopts measures to safeguard your data through contractual clauses or binding corporate rules that impose the same protection measures as described in this Privacy Statement.

7. Storage of Personal Information

We will only store personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purpose for which it was collected, to meet regulatory or legal requirements, or for the legal prescription period of potential legal or contractual liabilities.

Once this period has concluded, the data will be deleted or anonymized in such a way that no person can be individually identified, as allowed by the regulations of each country.

8. Automated Decisions and Profiling

At Melica, we are committed to offering you more and better services to simplify your life.

For this, we use tools that help us become more efficient through techniques known as "artificial intelligence," "machine learning," or "Big Data," which we use for various purposes such as fraud prevention, analysis, and prediction of economic capacity, personalized services and advertising, automated cybersecurity mechanisms, or identity validation through image recognition.

Automated decisions are those made based on the use of algorithms and computer programs without human intervention in the decision-making process.

Profiling involves evaluating some personal aspects, such as your interests, preferences, behaviors, or location, by automatically processing personal information using statistical methods. As a result of this processing, we may send you personalized communications or display them within our platforms that we believe may be of interest to you.

9. Confidentiality of Personal Information and User Responsibility

We will do everything in our power to protect the privacy of your personal information. The user will be responsible for all actions taken using their nickname and password.

10. Minors

Melica’s services may be available to minors, with prior consent from their legal guardian. If you fall into this category and do not have your guardian’s consent, you must not provide your personal information.

11. Use of Personal Information by Other Users

Melica allows users limited access to certain data (such as name, nickname, email address, other contact details, and billing and shipping information) of other users to facilitate interaction between them. Under no circumstances may other users share your personal information with third parties without your consent and/or Melica's consent, as applicable.

When a seller user receives personal information from their buyers, they become responsible for the processing of that data and assume the obligations it entails. Therefore, they cannot use the data for purposes other than or incompatible with the transaction that originated the collection. For this reason, they may only use the personal information of other users obtained on the Melica site for: (a) purposes related to transactions on the Melica platform, (b) using services offered by Melica (for example: deposits, insurance, shipping, or transportation, and fraud claims), and (c) any other purpose expressly consented to by the corresponding user once the required legal information has been provided or as permitted by local law.

Melica does not accept behaviors considered as "spamming." The indiscriminate sending of messages of any kind between Melica users is strictly prohibited.

Melica does not control, store, or have access to messages and content sent by users through means other than the websites, and therefore assumes no responsibility for any damage that may arise from its use. Negotiations carried out by users through such means are at their own responsibility.

Melica is not responsible for how any user or other person may use the information published on the platform. Users agree that Melica will not be responsible for any losses or damages that may result from negotiations between users. Consequently, you release Melica from any responsibility in case you have a conflict with one or more users.

12. Exercise of your rights over your information

The applicable regulations grant you certain rights over your personal information, which you can consult as specified in the annex of each country, such as: (i) access; (ii) updating; (iii) rectification; (iv) cessation of sending advertisements, offers, and promotions; (v) deletion; (vi) revocation of consent; (vii) confidentiality, and (viii) review of automated decisions.

You can make inquiries and/or requests related to your personal information through the contact details provided in the country-specific annexes included below.

In certain cases, and always as permitted or required by applicable law, we will retain your personal information for a limited period of time after you request its deletion. Once that period has expired, we will delete your personal information.

13. Cookies and other technologies

You expressly acknowledge and accept that Melica may use a behavior tracking system using "cookies" and/or other similar tracking technologies.

These technologies are used to understand the interests and behavior of visitors or users of our website and, thus, provide better service or provide related information. We also use the information obtained through cookies to analyze the pages visited by the visitor or user, the searches made, improve our commercial and promotional initiatives, display advertisements or promotions, banners of interest, news about Melica, improve and personalize our content, presentation, and services, as well as promote and enforce the rules and security of the site. We also use them so that the user does not have to enter their password as often during a browsing session, and to count and verify registrations, user activity, and other metrics for commercial agreements, always aiming for the benefit of the user who receives the cookies, which will not be used for purposes unrelated to Melica. Additionally, we store cookies to offer a more interactive experience on the site, based on the user's actions.

Your personal data obtained through these technologies will not be transferred to third parties in a manner different from what is described in this Privacy Statement.

Additionally, "cookies" or similar systems may be found installed by third parties on certain pages of our websites or used by external advertisers to Melica.

Please note that the installation, permanence, and existence of cookies on your computer or device depend solely on your own will, and they can be deleted whenever you wish.

In this regard, you can delete stored cookies at any time, configure your browser to request approval before storing cookies, or directly prevent the storage of cookies.

Please note that if you disable cookies, it may prevent you from using some of the features offered by Melica.

14. Security. Storage of personal information.

Melica complies with regulations and has adopted industry-standard security measures to protect your personal information.

To the extent that Melica has complied with the regulations and adopted the mentioned measures, it is not responsible for illegal interceptions or violations of its systems or databases, nor for their use by unauthorized persons. Melica is also not responsible for the improper use of the information obtained by those means.

15. Changes to the Privacy Statement

Melica will update the Privacy Statement to reflect the continuous changes in the services we offer. These updates will transparently reflect how personal information is handled. We will notify you of these changes through our usual channels, such as email or messages through the applications. Where applicable, we will collect your consent.

16. Applicable Law and Jurisdiction

The Privacy Statement will be governed by the applicable laws as detailed in the annexes for each country included below. Any dispute or disagreement related to the interpretation, validity, execution, or compliance with this Privacy Statement will be resolved by the courts of Mexico City.

The processing of personal data carried out in Mexico, or subject to Mexican law, will be governed by this Privacy Statement. The Privacy Statement constitutes the comprehensive privacy notice under Mexican regulations. In case of conflict between the Privacy Statement and the Mexico Annex, the latter will prevail.

17. Responsible for processing personal information

For services available on the platform operated by Melica, this entity is responsible for processing.

18. Personal Information we collect and process

For the purposes mentioned in the Privacy Statement, we may collect the personal data explicitly stated there, as well as any other within the following categories: (i) identification; (ii) contact; (iii) financial; (iv) property; (v) interests and preferences.

In any case, Melica will comply with the provisions of the applicable data protection laws regarding the processing of personal data obtained indirectly.

19. Processing of information

Your personal data is collected for the primary and secondary purposes mentioned in the Privacy Statement.

If you do not want your personal data to be processed for the mentioned purposes, you can deny your consent by sending your request through the email address indicated in this document. Your refusal in this regard will not affect the execution of the other purposes established in the Privacy Statement.

20. Transfer of your personal data

Your personal data may be transferred, without legally requiring your consent, to the individuals and/or entities indicated in this document. In such cases, we require your consent to transfer your personal identification and contact data. If you do not express your refusal for us to carry out this transfer, we will assume that you have given us your consent. You may express your refusal at any time.

21. Exercise of your rights

You can make inquiries and/or exercise the rights of access, rectification, cancellation, and opposition to the processing of your personal information, as well as revoke your consent, in accordance with the terms permitted by applicable regulations, by submitting a request addressed to our Personal Data Department via email to the following address: info@melica.com.

Your consultation request must contain your name and address to communicate the response, and if you wish to exercise any right, your request must contain:

  • Your name, address, or another way to communicate the response to your request.
  • Documents that prove your identity or, if applicable, the legal representation you granted.
  • A clear and precise description of the personal data concerning the rights you wish to exercise.
  • Any other element or document that facilitates the location of your personal data.

We will respond to your request within 20 (twenty) business days following the date of receipt. If your request is valid, we will enforce it within 15 (fifteen) business days after notifying you of the response. If your request is incomplete or incorrect, we will ask you to correct it within 10 (ten) business days. The use of electronic means authorizes us to respond to your request through the same means unless you indicate another contact method in your request.

22. Limitation of use or disclosure of your personal information

You can also limit the use or disclosure of your personal data in the following ways: (i) For our emails with advertising, promotional, or marketing purposes, you can unsubscribe by changing your preferences as instructed in our communications, and (ii) you can change your preferences, as well as access, rectify, and delete registration information by accessing your account, in the "privacy" and "personal data" sections, respectively. For more information on this, contact our Personal Data Department.

23. Applicable Law and Jurisdiction

The Privacy Statement and this Canada Annex will be governed by the laws of the country. In the event of any controversy or disagreement related to the interpretation, validity, or compliance with these, you and Melica declare that they submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent authorities of Canada.