NOWUPDATING Privacy Policy

Effective date: 7 August 2026
Last updated: 7 August 2026

时在科技有限公司 (brand name: NOWUPDATING, referred to below as ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’) values the protection of your personal information and privacy.

This policy applies to our processing of personal information when you visit nowupdating.com or use our expert consultation booking, online payment, consultation preparation, order management and related customer support services.

1. Information we collect

1.1 Booking information

When you book an expert consultation, we may collect:

• Your email address;
• The expert, consultation topics, date and time you select;
• The background, questions or other notes you provide;
• Files you choose to upload, including their names and contents;
• Booking references, booking statuses and related activity records.

Background information and attachments are optional. Please provide only information necessary for the consultation.

1.2 Payment and transaction information

Booking payments are made on a payment page provided by Stripe. Stripe may directly collect your name, contact details, payment method, bank card details and transaction verification information.

We do not directly receive or store your full card number, card security code or other complete payment credentials. We may store:

• Order amounts and currencies;
• Payment, refund or failure statuses;
• Stripe transaction or checkout session references;
• Payment, refund and order processing times;
• Transaction records necessary for reconciliation, after-sales support and dispute handling.

Stripe may independently process some information for payment processing, identity verification, fraud prevention and legal compliance. See the Stripe Privacy Policy for details.

1.3 Communications

When you contact us by email or other means, we may retain your contact details, correspondence, attachments and records of how your enquiry was handled.

1.4 Technical information and logs

When you visit the website, our servers or security systems may automatically record:

• IP addresses;
• Browser and device types;
• Access times, page paths and referring pages;
• Request statuses, errors and security events;
• Cookies, session identifiers and cross-site request forgery protection tokens.

This information is primarily used to operate the website, protect accounts and transactions, diagnose problems and prevent abuse.

1.5 Sensitive personal information

Payment information and some materials you choose to upload may constitute sensitive personal information.

Unless necessary for the consultation, do not provide identity documents, bank account details, medical or health information, biometric information, precise location data or other sensitive personal information in your notes or attachments. Do not submit personal information about third parties that is unrelated to the consultation.

Where processing sensitive personal information is necessary, we will apply stricter safeguards and provide separate notice and obtain your separate consent where required by law.

2. How we use information

On the basis of your consent, the need to enter into or perform a service contract, legal obligations or another lawful basis, we may use personal information to:

1. Create, confirm and manage expert consultation bookings;
2. Provide the relevant expert with information necessary to prepare for and deliver the consultation;
3. Process payments, refunds, reconciliation and transaction disputes;
4. Send booking confirmations, calendar invitations, schedule changes, cancellation notices or refund notices;
5. Respond to enquiries, complaints or requests concerning your personal information rights;
6. Maintain the security and stability of the website, booking system and payment process;
7. Detect unusual requests, fraud, misuse or security risks;
8. Meet financial, tax, audit and other legal obligations;
9. Establish, exercise or defend legal rights.

Without your separate consent, we will not use your booking email address for commercial marketing or use your personal information to create advertising profiles unrelated to our expert consultation services.

3. Cookies and similar technologies

This website uses only cookies or similar technologies necessary for its operation, including those used to:

• Maintain browsing sessions;
• Prevent forged requests and malicious actions;
• Save necessary page state;
• Protect the booking and payment process.

As of the effective date of this policy, we do not use cookies for cross-site advertising, selling personal information or creating marketing profiles.

You can reject or delete cookies through your browser. Disabling necessary cookies may prevent bookings, payments or other website features from working correctly.

4. Sharing and processing by service providers

We do not sell or rent your personal information.

Only where necessary to provide our services or permitted by law, we may share information with the following recipients:

4.1 Experts or consultants providing your service

Experts or consultants involved in your consultation may access the selected topics, background notes, attachments and other information necessary to deliver the service.

We require them to use this information only to prepare for and complete your consultation and to apply appropriate confidentiality measures.

4.2 Payment service providers

We use Stripe to process booking payments, refunds, transaction verification and risk controls. We provide only the information needed to complete the transaction.

4.3 Cloud infrastructure and email service providers

We use Amazon Web Services (AWS) services to store private files, operate infrastructure or send booking-related service emails. AWS may process data on our behalf as necessary to provide these services. See the AWS Privacy Notice for details.

4.4 Professional advisers

Where necessary, we may provide lawyers, accountants, auditors or other professional advisers with the minimum information needed to handle disputes, audits or legal matters.

4.5 Regulators and judicial authorities

We may provide necessary information where required by law, a court order or a lawful request from a competent authority.

Outside these situations, if we need to provide your personal information to another personal information handler, we will inform you of the recipient, contact details, processing purposes, methods and types of information as required by law, and obtain your separate consent where required.

5. Cross-border processing

Stripe, AWS or their service locations may be outside China, depending on the accounts, services and infrastructure regions we use.

Where your personal information needs to be transferred outside China, we will complete any security assessment, personal information protection certification, standard contract or other procedure required by applicable law. We will inform you of the overseas recipient, processing purposes, types of information and how to exercise your rights. We will obtain your separate consent where required by law.

6. Retention periods

We retain personal information only for the shortest period necessary to achieve the purposes described in this policy.

Retention periods are generally determined by:

• The time needed to complete bookings and expert consultations;
• The time needed to handle payments, refunds, after-sales support and transaction disputes;
• The time needed to prevent duplicate bookings, fraud or system misuse;
• Minimum retention periods required by financial, tax, audit or other laws;
• The time needed to establish, exercise or defend legal rights.

Consultation attachments are retained for the period necessary to prepare for and deliver the consultation and handle reasonable after-sales matters or disputes. Once the purpose is fulfilled, the information is no longer needed or the retention period expires, we will delete or anonymise it as required by law.

Because of backups and disaster recovery arrangements, deleted information may remain in backups for a limited period. Until backup rotation is complete, we will restrict access to and further use of that information.

7. Information security

We take reasonable security measures appropriate to the nature and risk of the personal information, including:

• Access controls and minimum necessary access;
• Private file storage;
• Protection for data transmission and systems;
• Logging, troubleshooting and security monitoring;
• Data backup and recovery;
• Confidentiality requirements for experts, staff and service providers.

No internet transmission or storage system can guarantee absolute security. If a personal information security incident may affect your rights or interests, we will take remedial action and notify you or the relevant authorities as required by law.

8. Your personal information rights

To the extent provided by applicable law, you may:

• Ask about or understand how we process your personal information;
• Request access to or a copy of your personal information;
• Request correction or completion of inaccurate or incomplete information;
• Restrict or refuse particular processing activities;
• Withdraw consent you have given;
• Request deletion where the purpose has been fulfilled, cannot be achieved, is no longer necessary or the processing is unlawful;
• Request an explanation of this policy or related processing rules;
• Complain about our processing decisions.

Withdrawing consent does not affect processing based on consent before its withdrawal. We may still need to retain or process information necessary to perform a booking contract, handle payments or refunds, or meet legal obligations.

To protect your information, we may verify your identity before handling a request. Please do not send unnecessary identity documents or sensitive information when first contacting us.

9. Information about minors

Our expert consultation services are not specifically directed at children under fourteen.

If you are under fourteen, use these services with the consent and guidance of a parent or other guardian. A guardian who discovers that a child has provided personal information without consent may contact us to request deletion.

10. Third-party websites and services

This website may link to Stripe, AWS or other third-party websites and services. Their processing of personal information is governed by their own privacy policies, not this policy.

We recommend reading their privacy policies and terms before using those services.

11. Policy updates

We may update this policy to reflect business, technical or legal requirements.

If an update materially affects your rights or interests, we will notify you through a website notice, booking email or another appropriate channel. Unless permitted by law or separately agreed by you, we will not retrospectively expand the use of personal information through a policy update.

The ‘Last updated’ date at the top of this policy indicates when it was last revised.

12. Contact us

If you have questions about this policy or wish to exercise your personal information rights, contact us using the following details:

• Personal information handler: 时在科技有限公司
• Brand name: NOWUPDATING
• Website: https://nowupdating.com
• Privacy contact email: privacy@nowupdating.com

To help us handle your request, include your contact details, relevant booking reference and the details of your request. After verifying your identity, we will process and respond to it within a reasonable period.