Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

44Finance is an independent online loan comparison service operated from Estonia since 2018. We are not a financial institution and do not issue loans. Our website allows users to compare loan offers from licensed lenders across multiple European markets. For any data protection inquiries, please contact us at [email protected].

2. What Data We Collect

• Technical data: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, device type, screen resolution, and referring URL — collected automatically when you visit our website.
• Usage data: pages viewed, time spent on pages, click behaviour, scroll depth, and navigation paths — collected through analytics tools.
• Cookie data: cookie identifiers and consent preferences stored in your browser.
• Contact data: name and email address — collected only when you voluntarily submit a contact form or feedback request.
• We do not collect sensitive personal data such as health information, political opinions, or biometric data.

3. How We Use Your Data

• To operate and maintain the website, including load balancing and error monitoring.
• To analyse visitor behaviour and improve content, layout, and user experience.
• To respond to your enquiries submitted through the contact form.
• To detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and security incidents.
• To comply with applicable legal obligations.
• We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data to any third party.

4. Legal Basis for Processing

• Consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR): for non-essential cookies and analytics tracking. You may withdraw consent at any time through the cookie settings on our website.
• Legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR): for website security, fraud prevention, and aggregated statistical analysis that does not identify individuals.
• Legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c) GDPR): when we are required to retain data by law or respond to regulatory requests.

5. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to ensure the website functions correctly and to understand how visitors interact with our content. Essential cookies (session management, cookie consent preference) are set without additional consent as they are strictly necessary. Analytics cookies (Google Analytics) are set only after you provide consent through our cookie banner. You can manage or withdraw your cookie preferences at any time by clicking the cookie settings link in the website footer. For more details, refer to Google's privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy.

6. Data Sharing with Third Parties

• Lender partners: when you click an outbound link to a lender's website, you leave 44finance and become subject to that lender's privacy policy. We do not transmit your personal data to lenders.
• Analytics providers: we use Google Analytics to collect aggregated, anonymised usage statistics. IP anonymisation is enabled.
• Hosting provider: our website is hosted on infrastructure that may process technical data (IP address, request logs) for operational purposes.
• We do not use advertising networks, remarketing pixels, or social media tracking scripts.

7. International Data Transfers

Some of our service providers (e.g. Google Analytics) may process data outside the European Economic Area (EEA). In such cases, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission, or the service provider's participation in recognised adequacy frameworks.

8. Data Retention

• Analytics data: retained in aggregated form for up to 14 months, after which it is automatically deleted by the analytics provider.
• Contact form submissions: retained for up to 12 months after the enquiry is resolved, then permanently deleted.
• Server logs: retained for up to 90 days for security and debugging purposes.
• Cookie consent records: retained for the duration of the consent validity period (up to 12 months).

9. Your Rights Under GDPR

As a data subject, you have the following rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

• Right of access: request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification: request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to erasure: request deletion of your data when it is no longer necessary for the purpose it was collected.
• Right to restriction: request that we limit the processing of your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to data portability: receive your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
• Right to object: object to processing based on legitimate interest at any time.
• Right to withdraw consent: withdraw your consent for cookie tracking or any other consent-based processing at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected]. We will respond to your request within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Estonian Data Protection Inspectorate (Andmekaitse Inspektsioon) at www.aki.ee.

10. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include HTTPS encryption for all data in transit, restricted access to personal data on a need-to-know basis, and regular security reviews of our infrastructure.

11. Children's Privacy

Our services are not directed at individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from minors. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected data from a minor, we will take steps to delete it promptly.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or applicable legislation. The revised policy will be published on this page with an updated effective date. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

13. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or our data practices, please contact us at [email protected].