Privacy policy

1.Who we are

Schengenie is the controller of your personal data, which means we decide why and how it is used.

• Company: VisaFlow, registered in Egypt.
• Email: hello@schengenie.com
• WhatsApp: Start a chat

2.What this policy covers

This policy covers our website, the calls you book with us and our conversations with you on WhatsApp and by email.

It does not cover websites and apps run by others, such as embassies, consulates, visa centres or WhatsApp itself. Their own privacy policies apply when you use them.

3.The personal data we collect

We collect only what we need to answer you and to provide the service you ask for. Most of it is what the consulate requires for a visa application. If you do not give it, we cannot prepare the application.

Please send documents only when we ask for them, and only the ones your application needs.

4.Sensitive personal data

The law treats some data as sensitive. In our work this means:

• financial data, such as bank statements and salary letters;
• all data about children, meaning travellers under 18;
• health data, only if you choose to send medical documents for a trip made for treatment;
• passport photos, which we treat as sensitive as a precaution.

We handle sensitive data only under our licence from the Personal Data Protection Center (PDPC), only for your application, and only with your explicit written consent. You give that consent in a WhatsApp message or an email before we start work on your file. For a child, the parent or legal guardian gives it.

5.Why we use your data, and our legal basis

We do not sell personal data. Apart from the Meta Pixel described above, we do not use it for advertising, and we do not make decisions about you by automated means alone.

We do not send marketing messages at present. If we start, we will first ask for your separate consent and will hold the licence the law requires for electronic marketing.

6.Children

Only a parent or legal guardian can ask us to help with an application for a traveller under 18. They must:

• give consent, by WhatsApp or email, for each child; and
• send us a signed guardian consent form before we prepare the file.

This consent lasts until we delete the child's details under section 10, no later than 90 days after the application is closed or cancelled. The parent or guardian can withdraw it earlier; we will then stop working on that child's application and delete the child's documents.

7.Applying for other adults

If you apply for another adult, you must have their permission and show them this policy before you give us their details. They can contact us directly to use their rights under section 12.

8.Who we share data with

Service providers that process data for us. They may use it only on our instructions.

Others who receive data for their own purposes:

• Meta Platforms, through the Meta Pixel on our website: the visit and click data described in section 3. Meta uses it under its own privacy policy, including to show and measure ads.
• WhatsApp (Meta), when you choose to message us there. WhatsApp's own terms and privacy policy apply to your messages.
• Consulates, embassies and visa centres (for example VFS Global, TLScontact and BLS International). When we book an appointment or fill in an online form for you, we enter the travellers' data on their websites. They use it under their own rules and the law of the destination country.
• Authorities, when the law requires us to share data.
• Our lawyers and accountants, who must keep it confidential.

9.Transfers outside Egypt

Our website is delivered through Cloudflare's worldwide network, the Meta Pixel sends visit and click data to Meta outside Egypt, and Google, WhatsApp and our email provider may process your bookings and messages outside Egypt, as section 8 shows.

We transfer data outside Egypt only:

• with your consent, which you give when you ask us to start work on your application; and
• with safeguards: contracts with each provider and strict limits on who can see your data.

Data that we enter on consulate and visa-centre websites goes to the destination country's authorities. We send it because you asked us to apply on your behalf, and with your explicit consent.

10.How long we keep data

When we delete your documents or details under this schedule, we will tell you by WhatsApp or email. If a dispute, a complaint or a request from an authority requires it, we may keep the relevant data longer, only for that purpose and only as long as needed.

11.How we protect your data

• Only the staff who work on your case can see your data, and each only what their role needs.
• Our website is served over an encrypted connection (HTTPS).
• We delete documents and traveller details on the schedule in section 10.
• Staff are bound by confidentiality and trained in data protection.
• We only contact you from the WhatsApp number and email address shown on this website. Do not send documents to anyone who claims to be Schengenie from another number or address.

12.Your rights

Under Article 2 of the law, you have the right to:

1. know what personal data we hold about you, see it and get a copy;
2. withdraw your consent;
3. have your data corrected, completed, updated or deleted;
4. limit our processing to a specific scope;
5. be told about any breach of your personal data;
6. object to processing, or to its results, where it conflicts with your fundamental rights and freedoms.

How to use your rights: message us on WhatsApp or email us at hello@schengenie.com, from the number or address you used with us.

We may ask you to confirm who you are. We answer within 6 working days of receiving your request, as Article 32 of the law requires. If we cannot do what you ask, we explain why and tell you how to complain. Requests are free of charge.

Some limits apply. We may have to keep data the law requires us to keep. If you ask us to delete data while an application is in progress, we will have to stop working on it. We cannot delete data a consulate or visa centre already holds; you can contact them directly.

13.Withdrawing your consent

You can withdraw your consent at any time by WhatsApp or email. Withdrawing does not affect what we did before. If the consent was needed for your application, we will have to stop working on it, and we will delete the data unless the law requires us to keep it.

14.Complaints

Please contact us first, and we will try to put things right. You can also complain to the Personal Data Protection Center. The PDPC decides complaints within 30 working days (Article 33 of the law). You may also go to court.

15.If a data breach happens

If a breach affects your personal data, we will notify the PDPC within 72 hours of becoming aware of it. We will tell you within 3 working days of notifying the PDPC, by WhatsApp or email, and explain what we have done about it.

16.Cookies

Our website sets one cookie of its own, only when you choose a language yourself: it remembers your language. It also uses the Meta Pixel, which sets Meta cookies such as _fbp to measure visits and WhatsApp-button clicks for our advertising. Our Cookie policy explains both, and how to opt out.

17.Changes to this policy

The version of this policy is shown at the top. If we change it in a way that matters, we will publish the new version on this page, tell clients with an open application by WhatsApp or email and, where the law requires, ask for consent again.

18.Contact

• Email: hello@schengenie.com
• WhatsApp: Start a chat