Privacy Policy

01Who we are

MERGE is a multi-brand retail store based in the Kingdom of Bahrain, operating the website at mergebh.com and the MERGE applications for iPhone and Android. In this policy, “MERGE”, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to MERGE. “You” refers to anyone who visits our website, uses our application, or buys from us.

We are responsible for the personal information described in this policy, and we handle it in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Law of the Kingdom of Bahrain (Law No. 30 of 2018).

02Information we collect

Information you give us

• When you create an account: your first and last name, email address, mobile number, preferred language, your password (which we store only in encrypted form, never as readable text), and your date of birth if you choose to provide it.
• When you place an order: your delivery address, contact telephone number, the items you bought, and your chosen delivery and payment method.
• When you order from the MERGE Café: your order, and whether you have chosen collection or delivery.
• When you write a review: your rating, the title and text of your review, and the name shown alongside it.
• When you contact us: whatever you choose to tell us, so that we can answer you.

Information collected automatically

• Your IP address and browser or device type, recorded with your sign-in sessions so we can keep your account secure and show you where it is signed in.
• Basic information about how our website and application are used, so we can find faults and improve them.
• Your language and currency preference, so the store appears the way you left it.

Information we create

• Your order history and its delivery status.
• Your loyalty points balance and the record of how points were earned and spent.
• Any discount or gift issued to you, and whether it has been used.

03How we use your information

We use your information only for the purposes below.

• To sell to you: to process your order, take payment, deliver your items, and handle returns, exchanges and refunds.
• To run your account: to identify you when you sign in, keep your details and addresses, and show you your orders.
• To operate the loyalty programme: to award points on your purchases and let you redeem them.
• To support you: to answer questions and resolve problems.
• To improve MERGE: to understand which products and features are used, and to fix faults.
• To protect the store: to detect and prevent fraud, misuse of discount codes, and unauthorised access to accounts.
• To meet our obligations: to keep the accounting and tax records that Bahraini law requires of us.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not rent or trade it.

04Payment information

Card payments are handled by a licensed payment provider. Your full card number, expiry date and security code are entered directly with that provider and are never stored on MERGE systems. We receive only a confirmation that the payment succeeded or failed, along with a reference for the transaction.

If you pay cash on delivery, no card details are collected at all.

05Your birthday

Providing your date of birth is optional. If you give it to us, we use it for one purpose: to send you a birthday offer or gift.

Once your birthday has been saved it is locked, and it can only be changed by contacting our support team. This protects the birthday offer from being claimed repeatedly, and it means a mistake can still be corrected — just ask us.

06Signing in with Apple or Google

If you choose to sign in using Apple or Google, we receive a unique identifier for you from that provider, together with your name and email address where you allow it. We do not receive your password for those accounts, and we cannot see anything else in them.

Apple allows you to hide your email address. If you use that option, Apple gives us a forwarding address instead of your own, and messages we send reach you through Apple. We treat that forwarding address exactly as we would treat your own email address.

07Who we share it with

We share your information only where it is necessary, and only with:

• Delivery companies — your name, address and telephone number, so your order can reach you.
• Our payment provider — the details needed to take payment securely.
• Our hosting and technology providers — who store our data and keep the website and application running on our behalf, under agreements that require them to protect it and to use it for no other purpose.
• Professional advisers and authorities — where we are required to disclose information by law, by a court, or to establish or defend a legal claim.

If our business is ever sold or reorganised, your information may transfer to the new owner, who would remain bound by this policy until you are told otherwise.

08Cookies and similar technologies

We use a small amount of storage in your browser to make the store work:

• Necessary — to keep you signed in, remember the items in your bag, and keep your session secure. The store cannot function without these.
• Preference — to remember your language and currency, and which messages you have already dismissed.

You can clear this storage at any time through your browser settings. Doing so will sign you out and empty your bag.

09Marketing and notifications

Where you have agreed to it, we may contact you about new arrivals, offers, and your birthday gift. We may also show messages inside the application or website about current promotions.

You can opt out of marketing at any time — through your account settings, by using the unsubscribe link in any message we send, or by contacting us. Opting out of marketing does not stop messages we must send about an order you have placed, such as a confirmation or a delivery update.

10How long we keep it

We keep your information only as long as we need it:

• Your account — for as long as it remains open. If you ask us to close it, we delete or anonymise your details.
• Order and payment records — for the period required by Bahraini accounting and tax law, even after an account is closed.
• Sign-in sessions — until they expire or you sign out.
• Reviews — until you ask us to remove them.

11How we protect it

Traffic between your device and MERGE is encrypted. Passwords are stored only as one-way encrypted values, so nobody at MERGE can read them. Access to customer information is restricted to the members of our team who need it for their work, and their actions are recorded.

No system can be guaranteed completely secure. If a breach affects your personal information, we will notify you and the relevant authority as the law requires.

12Your rights

Under the Personal Data Protection Law of Bahrain you have the right to:

• ask what personal information we hold about you, and receive a copy of it;
• have inaccurate or incomplete information corrected;
• ask us to delete your information, where we are not required to keep it;
• object to your information being used for direct marketing, at any time;
• withdraw a consent you previously gave, without affecting what was done before;
• complain to the Personal Data Protection Authority of Bahrain.

To exercise any of these, contact us using the details below. We will respond within the period the law allows, and we may first need to verify your identity so that we do not disclose your information to somebody else.

13Children

MERGE is intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has given us their information, contact us and we will delete it.

14Storage and transfers

Your information is stored on secure servers. Some of our technology providers may process information outside Bahrain. Where that happens, we take steps to ensure your information remains protected to the standard required by Bahraini law.

15Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as our services change or the law requires. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last revised. If a change materially affects how we use your information, we will tell you before it takes effect.

16Contact us

For any question about this policy, or to exercise your rights over your information:

17Related pages