Privacy Policy

Last Updated: 24th July 2026 

TopBusiness respects your privacy and is committed to handling your personal data responsibly.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, store and protect personal data when you access or interact with the TopBusiness website at [Website URL], including our articles, newsletters, contact forms, advertising services, contributor channels and other related features.

The Website is operated by [Full Legal Company Name], Company Registration No. [Registration Number], with its registered or business address at [Business Address] (“TopBusiness”, “we”, “us” or “our”).

This Privacy Policy should be read together with our Terms and Conditions and Cookie Policy.

1. Scope of This Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to personal data collected through:

  • The TopBusiness website
  • Newsletter subscription forms
  • Contact and enquiry forms
  • Advertising and partnership enquiries
  • Press release submissions
  • Contributor and guest writer submissions
  • Surveys, events and campaigns
  • Email communications
  • Social media interactions
  • Cookies and similar technologies
  • Analytics, advertising and website security tools
  • Other interactions with TopBusiness

This policy does not govern third-party websites, platforms or services that may be linked from our Website.

2. What Is Personal Data?

Personal data generally refers to information that relates directly or indirectly to an identifiable individual.

Depending on how you interact with TopBusiness, personal data may include your:

  • Name
  • Email address
  • Telephone number
  • Job title
  • Company name
  • Business address
  • Social media profile
  • Professional biography
  • Photograph
  • Communication preferences
  • IP address
  • Device information
  • Browser information
  • Website activity
  • Enquiry or submission details
  • Payment or billing information
  • Any other information you voluntarily provide

Information relating only to a company or organisation may not always constitute personal data. However, details identifying an individual representative, employee, director, contributor or contact person may be personal data.

3. What Personal Data Do We Collect?

The personal data we collect depends on how you use the Website.

Information You Provide Directly

You may provide personal data when you:

  • Subscribe to a newsletter
  • Contact our editorial or business team
  • Submit a press release
  • Propose an article or story
  • Apply to become a contributor
  • Request advertising information
  • Enter into a commercial partnership
  • Register for an event
  • Participate in a survey
  • Report an error or submit a complaint
  • Request copyright permission
  • Communicate with us by email, telephone or social media

This information may include your name, contact details, company, position, message, submitted materials and supporting documents.

Information Collected Automatically

When you visit the Website, certain information may be collected automatically through cookies, log files and similar technologies.

This may include:

  • IP address
  • Browser type and version
  • Device type
  • Operating system
  • Referring website
  • Pages visited
  • Date and time of access
  • Time spent on pages
  • Links clicked
  • Approximate location based on IP address
  • Advertising identifiers
  • Cookie identifiers
  • Website errors and performance information

We use this information to operate, secure, analyse and improve the Website.

Information Received From Third Parties

We may receive personal data from:

  • Analytics providers
  • Advertising platforms
  • Social media services
  • Newsletter and email providers
  • Business partners
  • Event organisers
  • Publicly available sources
  • Press release distribution services
  • Contributors or authorised representatives
  • Companies featured in submitted materials
  • Fraud prevention and website security providers

Where another person submits your personal data to us, that person is responsible for confirming that they have the necessary authority or consent to do so.

4. How Do We Use Personal Data?

We may use personal data for the following purposes.

Operating the Website

We may process personal data to:

  • Deliver and maintain the Website
  • Display content correctly
  • Manage Website functionality
  • Troubleshoot technical problems
  • Monitor Website performance
  • Protect the Website against fraud, spam and cyber threats

Responding to Enquiries

We may use your information to:

  • Respond to questions
  • Process advertising enquiries
  • Handle partnership requests
  • Review editorial pitches
  • Respond to correction requests
  • Address copyright or privacy complaints
  • Communicate about our services

Managing Newsletter Subscriptions

We may use subscriber information to:

  • Deliver newsletters
  • Send business news updates
  • Share new articles and guides
  • Manage subscription preferences
  • Measure email engagement
  • Prevent spam and delivery abuse

You may unsubscribe from marketing or newsletter communications at any time by using the unsubscribe link in the relevant email or contacting us.

Reviewing Editorial Submissions

We may process personal data to:

  • Review press releases
  • Assess article pitches
  • Verify authorship or authority
  • Contact contributors
  • Conduct reasonable editorial checks
  • Edit and publish contributor profiles
  • Manage interviews
  • Investigate potential conflicts of interest
  • Maintain publication and correspondence records

Where content is published, certain information such as an author’s name, position, biography, photograph or company affiliation may become publicly available.

Advertising and Commercial Activities

We may use personal data to:

  • Respond to advertising enquiries
  • Prepare proposals and quotations
  • Manage sponsored content
  • Administer partnerships
  • Process invoices and payments
  • Maintain business records
  • Measure advertising performance
  • Communicate with clients and partners

Analytics and Website Improvement

We may use information about Website activity to:

  • Understand which articles are viewed
  • Measure readership and engagement
  • Identify popular topics
  • Improve navigation and usability
  • Develop new content
  • Analyse Website traffic
  • Evaluate marketing campaigns
  • Detect technical problems

Where reasonably possible, analytics information may be aggregated or anonymised.

Security and Legal Compliance

We may process personal data to:

  • Prevent fraud and misuse
  • Investigate security incidents
  • Protect our legal rights
  • Enforce our Terms and Conditions
  • Respond to lawful requests
  • Comply with legal and regulatory obligations
  • Maintain accounting, tax and commercial records
  • Establish, exercise or defend legal claims

Other Notified Purposes

We may use personal data for another purpose where:

  • The purpose is directly related to the reason the data was collected.
  • You have given consent.
  • Processing is permitted or required by applicable law.
  • We notify you of the additional purpose where required.

5. What Are Our Grounds for Processing Personal Data?

Depending on the circumstances and applicable law, we may process personal data because:

  • You have provided consent.
  • Processing is necessary to respond to your request.
  • Processing is needed to perform or prepare a contract.
  • Processing is required by law.
  • Processing is necessary to protect our rights or the rights of another party.
  • Processing supports legitimate business, editorial, security or administrative purposes.
  • The information has been made publicly available.
  • Another lawful basis applies.

Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw that consent, subject to legal, contractual and operational limitations.

Withdrawal of consent does not affect processing that took place before the withdrawal.

6. Is It Mandatory to Provide Personal Data?

Providing personal data is generally voluntary.

However, certain information may be required for us to:

  • Respond to an enquiry
  • Process a commercial request
  • Review a submission
  • Deliver a newsletter
  • Enter into an agreement
  • Process a payment
  • Handle a correction or complaint
  • Meet legal or regulatory requirements

If required information is not provided, we may be unable to process your request or provide the relevant service.

Fields marked as required on a form must normally be completed before the form can be submitted.

7. Who May We Share Personal Data With?

We do not sell personal data to advertisers.

We may disclose personal data to the following parties where reasonably necessary.

Service Providers

We may work with service providers that support:

  • Website hosting
  • Cloud storage
  • Email delivery
  • Newsletter management
  • Website analytics
  • Cybersecurity
  • Spam prevention
  • Content management
  • Payment processing
  • Accounting
  • Customer relationship management
  • Advertising measurement
  • Technical support
  • Professional advice

These providers may process personal data only to provide their services or as otherwise permitted by their agreements and applicable law.

Business and Advertising Partners

Where you make a relevant enquiry, register for a joint event or knowingly interact with sponsored material, we may share information with an identified partner.

We will not knowingly disclose your contact details to an advertiser for its independent direct marketing unless:

  • You have requested the contact.
  • You have given permission.
  • The disclosure is otherwise permitted by law.

Contributors and Editorial Participants

Information may be shared with editors, writers, photographers, designers, interview participants or relevant editorial contractors when necessary to prepare or verify content.

Professional Advisers

We may disclose information to lawyers, accountants, auditors, insurers or other professional advisers where reasonably required.

Authorities and Legal Parties

We may disclose personal data where required or permitted by law, including to:

  • Courts
  • Regulators
  • Government agencies
  • Law enforcement authorities
  • Tax authorities
  • Legal representatives
  • Parties involved in a legal dispute

Business Transfers

If TopBusiness or its operating company undergoes a merger, acquisition, restructuring, financing, sale or transfer of assets, personal data may be disclosed to advisers, potential purchasers or the resulting organisation.

Any recipient will be expected to handle the data in accordance with applicable privacy obligations.

8. Do We Publish Personal Data?

TopBusiness is a news and insights publication. Some personal information may be published where it forms part of legitimate editorial content.

Published information may include:

  • Names
  • Job titles
  • Company affiliations
  • Professional biographies
  • Photographs
  • Public statements
  • Interview responses
  • Direct quotations
  • Information contained in press releases
  • Publicly available business information

Publishing such information may be necessary for reporting, commentary, attribution, transparency or public-interest purposes.

Information published online may be:

  • Viewed by readers worldwide
  • Indexed by search engines
  • Shared on social media
  • Archived
  • Quoted by third parties
  • Retained in public records

Requests to correct or remove published information will be assessed according to the circumstances, available evidence, applicable law and our editorial responsibilities.

Submitting a removal request does not guarantee removal.

9. Cookies and Similar Technologies

The Website may use cookies, pixels, tags, local storage and similar technologies.

These technologies may support:

  • Essential Website functions
  • Security and fraud prevention
  • User preferences
  • Website analytics
  • Traffic measurement
  • Advertising delivery
  • Campaign attribution
  • Embedded videos or social media features
  • Website performance monitoring

Some cookies are placed directly by TopBusiness. Others may be placed by third-party services used on the Website.

More information about the cookies we use, their purpose and available controls should be provided in our Cookie Policy or cookie consent tool.

You may also manage cookies through your browser settings. Blocking certain cookies may affect Website performance or functionality.

10. Analytics

We may use analytics services to understand how visitors interact with the Website.

Analytics providers may collect information such as:

  • Pages viewed
  • Session duration
  • Traffic source
  • Device category
  • Browser type
  • Approximate location
  • Interactions with Website features

This information helps us evaluate readership, improve content and monitor Website performance.

Where available, we may use privacy controls offered by analytics providers, such as data retention settings, consent controls or IP-related protections.

11. Advertising

TopBusiness may display advertisements or sponsored content.

Advertising providers may use cookies or similar technologies to:

  • Deliver advertisements
  • Limit how often an advertisement appears
  • Measure campaign performance
  • Detect fraudulent traffic
  • Understand advertising interactions
  • Personalise advertisements where permitted

Where required, non-essential advertising technologies should be activated only after the relevant consent or preference has been recorded.

You may be able to manage advertising preferences through our cookie controls, your browser or the relevant advertising provider.

12. International and Cross-Border Transfers

Some service providers may process or store personal data outside Malaysia.

This may occur when we use international:

  • Hosting providers
  • Cloud platforms
  • Email services
  • Analytics tools
  • Advertising platforms
  • Content delivery networks
  • Business software providers

Where personal data is transferred outside Malaysia, we will take reasonable steps to ensure the transfer is handled in accordance with applicable requirements.

Depending on the circumstances, those steps may include:

  • Assessing the destination and recipient
  • Using contractual protections
  • Obtaining consent where required
  • Limiting the information transferred
  • Applying security safeguards
  • Confirming that an applicable legal condition permits the transfer

Personal data processed in another country may be subject to the laws of that country.

13. How Do We Protect Personal Data?

We take reasonable practical steps to protect personal data against:

  • Loss
  • Misuse
  • Unauthorised access
  • Unauthorised disclosure
  • Alteration
  • Accidental destruction
  • Malicious activity

Safeguards may include:

  • Access controls
  • Password protections
  • Role-based permissions
  • Secure hosting
  • Encryption where appropriate
  • Software updates
  • Backups
  • Security monitoring
  • Staff and contractor confidentiality obligations
  • Restricted access to administrative systems
  • Incident response procedures

No website, storage system or internet transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

You are responsible for protecting any passwords, devices or accounts used when communicating with us.

14. What Are Your Privacy Rights?

Subject to applicable law and any permitted exceptions, you may have the right to:

  • Ask whether we process your personal data
  • Request access to personal data held about you
  • Request correction of inaccurate, incomplete or outdated data
  • Withdraw consent
  • Object to or prevent certain direct marketing
  • Request that certain processing stop
  • Raise concerns about processing that may cause damage or distress
  • Submit a complaint
  • Exercise other rights available under applicable law

These rights are not always absolute. We may need to retain or continue processing information where required by law, necessary for legal claims, connected to contractual obligations or otherwise permitted.

Editorial archives and published news content may also involve additional considerations, including accuracy, attribution, public interest and freedom of expression.

15. Children’s Privacy

TopBusiness is intended primarily for business owners, professionals, entrepreneurs and general adult readers.

The Website is not designed to collect personal data from children.

If you are under the age required to provide valid consent under applicable law, you should use the Website only with the permission and supervision of a parent or legal guardian.

If we become aware that personal data has been collected from a child without appropriate authority, we may take reasonable steps to delete it.

Parents or guardians may contact us if they believe a child has submitted personal information.

16. Third-Party Websites

The Website may link to third-party websites, including:

  • Government portals
  • Company websites
  • Social media platforms
  • Advertisers
  • Event websites
  • Research sources
  • Professional service providers
  • E-commerce platforms

We do not control how those websites collect or process personal data.

You should read the privacy policy of a third-party service before providing personal information or interacting with it.

TopBusiness is not responsible for the privacy or security practices of external websites.

17. Publicly Available Information

For editorial and research purposes, we may collect information from publicly available sources, such as:

  • Company websites
  • Government publications
  • Public registers
  • Regulatory announcements
  • Press releases
  • Social media profiles
  • Public events
  • Interviews
  • Published reports
  • News sources

We may use such information to prepare, verify, update or illustrate news and insight content.

Public availability does not necessarily remove all privacy obligations. We will consider the nature, source and intended use of the information where appropriate.

18. Automated Decision-Making

We do not intend to make significant decisions about individuals solely through automated processing unless specifically disclosed.

Certain technologies may automatically:

  • Filter spam
  • Detect suspicious activity
  • Categorise enquiries
  • Recommend Website content
  • Measure audience activity
  • support advertising delivery

These functions are generally used to operate, secure or improve the Website rather than to make legal or similarly significant decisions about individuals.

If our use of automated decision-making materially changes, this policy may be updated.

19. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in:

  • Applicable laws
  • Regulatory guidance
  • Website features
  • Business operations
  • Service providers
  • Advertising practices
  • Data-processing activities

The revised version will be published on this page with an updated “Last Updated” date.

Where appropriate, we may provide additional notice of material changes through the Website or another communication channel.

You should review this Privacy Policy periodically.