Data Use Policy.

01 Purpose of this policy

aqnex exists to make verified, current business information available where customers increasingly look for it: inside AI assistants, retrieval-augmented search, and next-generation directory products. This Data Use Policy describes, in operational terms, how the data you submit flows from your dashboard to those endpoints, what contractual constraints apply to each downstream consumer, and what controls you have over publication, restriction, and removal.

This policy supplements and is incorporated by reference into our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. In the event of a conflict between this policy and either of those documents, the Terms of Service controls for matters of contractual obligation, and the Privacy Policy controls for matters of personal-data processing.

02 The three field modes

Every field on every aqnex profile carries one of three classification modes. The default mode at the time a profile is first created is shown in parentheses.

You can change the mode of any field at any time from the dashboard. Changes take effect immediately within aqnex's systems and are propagated to AI partners and the public directory within the propagation windows described in Section 6.

03 Categories of data we publish

The fields available for classification fall into the following categories. Not every field is required, and you can leave any field blank.

• Identity. Business name, legal entity name, alternate names ("d/b/a"), business type, year founded, owner name where you have elected to publish it.
• Location and reach. Street address, city, region, postal code, country, geographic coordinates, service area, additional locations, mobile-only flag.
• Contact. Phone number, email address, website, booking URL, social profiles, preferred contact method, languages spoken, accessibility features.
• Operations. Hours of operation, holiday hours, seasonal closures, appointment requirements, payment methods accepted, emergency availability, average response time.
• Services and pricing. Categories, sub-categories, specialties, services offered, products carried, starting price ranges, free-consultation flag.
• Trust signals. Licenses, certifications, insurance, verification badge, association memberships, years in business, awards.
• Reviews and reputation. Aggregated rating, review count, links to source platforms, owner responses (where you have authorized us to display them).
• Media. Logo, hero image, gallery images, menus, brochures, video links — each subject to the rights you confirm at upload.

04 Where Public-mode data appears

Fields classified as Public are displayed in the aqnex public directory at aqnex.com/directory and on individual profile pages, may be returned through our public API to authorized API consumers in accordance with their subscription plan, may be embedded in widgets that you or third parties have generated, and may be referenced in aqnex marketing material that highlights example listings (with your prior opt-in for any logo or trademark use).

05 Authorized AI partners

We deliver AI-eligible fields (those classified as Public or AI-only) to a defined set of authorized AI partners under written agreements. The current categories of AI partners include large-language-model assistants, retrieval-augmented search providers, voice assistants, and partner directories that surface aqnex citations alongside their own results. The authoritative, up-to-date list of named partners is maintained at Annex III of the DPA.

Each AI partner agreement requires the partner to:

• Use aqnex-provided data only for citation, retrieval, attribution, ranking, and end-user answer generation, and not to train or fine-tune any foundation, retrieval, or ranking model on aqnex-provided data without a separate written agreement and additional fees.
• Refresh data within the propagation windows in Section 6 and treat aqnex as the authoritative source for the verified fields they consume from us.
• Honor takedown, restriction, and correction requests within an agreed service-level window, typically not more than 24 hours from notice.
• Maintain audit logs of data ingestion sufficient to support takedown enforcement and breach investigation.
• Implement security measures consistent with Annex II of the DPA.
• Refrain from re-selling, sub-licensing, or redistributing aqnex-provided data outside the partner's own product surfaces without aqnex's prior written authorization.
• Honor data-subject and consumer-rights requests forwarded by aqnex on behalf of businesses or end users.

06 Propagation windows

Updates you make to a profile are committed to the aqnex authoritative store immediately. The time required for those changes to surface in downstream products depends on the consumer:

Targets are commercially reasonable goals, not guarantees, and may be temporarily exceeded during partner-side incidents. We will use reasonable efforts to notify you of any material delay that affects your profile's accuracy.

07 Verification

Profiles displayed with the verified badge have completed at least one of the verification methods we support: domain control, postal verification at the listed address, license-record verification against an authoritative registry, government-ID owner verification, or supervised live verification. Verification status is checked at a frequency proportional to the underlying signal — domain control is re-verified periodically, license verification is refreshed when the underlying registry is refreshed, and we may re-verify any profile at any time if we receive a credible report of inaccuracy.

We will withdraw the verified badge if a profile fails re-verification, if we receive a substantiated complaint that the profile is fraudulent, or if a registry indicates the underlying license, registration, or insurance has lapsed. Loss of the verified badge does not affect your underlying account, your subscription, or your ability to keep a profile listed.

08 Reviews and aggregated reputation

Where we display aggregated rating, review count, or owner responses, those values are derived either from sources you have authorized us to ingest, from public sources for which we hold the necessary permissions, or from reviews submitted directly by verified visitors to the aqnex directory. We do not synthesize, generate, or fabricate reviews. We do not allow profile owners to remove individual third-party reviews; we do allow profile owners to (a) reply to reviews, (b) flag reviews for moderation review under our content policy, and (c) request the disconnection of a third-party review source.

09 Restrictions, takedowns, and removal

You may at any time restrict, depublish, or delete a profile or any field on it from the dashboard. Effects of each action:

• Field-level restriction. Re-classifies a single field to a more restrictive mode. Other fields are unaffected.
• Profile depublication. Removes the profile from the public directory, freezes API/webhook delivery, and issues an authoritative depublication notice to all AI partners. The underlying data is retained in your account for re-publication unless you also delete it.
• Profile deletion. Permanently deletes the profile and triggers a deletion notice to all AI partners. Deletion takes effect on aqnex systems immediately and propagates downstream within the windows in Section 6. Backups containing deleted records expire on their normal rolling schedule (see the Privacy Policy).
• Account closure. Cancels your subscription, depublishes all profiles you own, and triggers deletion per the schedule in the Privacy Policy.

Third parties (including individuals and businesses other than the profile owner) may request removal of personal data, defamatory content, or content alleged to infringe their rights by writing to takedown@aqnex.com. We follow a documented notice-and-action process and will inform the profile owner where doing so is permitted by applicable law.

10 Disputes and corrections

If you believe a fact about your profile is inaccurate (for example, an incorrect license number, an address that has changed, an outdated set of operating hours, or a review that violates our policies), you can submit a correction directly from the dashboard or by writing to corrections@aqnex.com. We acknowledge correction requests within two business days and resolve them within ten business days absent exceptional circumstances. Where the underlying source is a third-party registry or platform, we will work in good faith to reconcile the discrepancy with that source.

11 What we do not do

• We do not sell personal information for monetary consideration, as that term is defined under California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah, or comparable state privacy law.
• We do not allow AI partners to train or fine-tune foundation models on aqnex-provided data without a separate written agreement.
• We do not scrape the dashboards, accounts, or private surfaces of third-party services. Where we ingest data from third parties, we do so under a written agreement, an authorized API, an integration you have explicitly connected, or a public source for which we hold the necessary rights.
• We do not fabricate reviews, citations, or business information.
• We do not de-anonymize end-user queries that AI partners route through us; we receive only aggregate query categories and approximate geography.
• We do not transfer Customer Content to a country that is not subject to an adequacy decision without putting in place an appropriate transfer mechanism (e.g., the EU Standard Contractual Clauses).

12 Audit and transparency

From your dashboard you can view, for any of your profiles, a per-field history of changes (including who changed what and when), a list of every AI partner currently receiving each field, the most recent successful propagation timestamp per partner, and a record of every takedown, restriction, or correction action taken on the profile. Logs are retained for thirteen (13) months. Enterprise plans may export raw audit logs through the API.

13 Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, partner roster, or legal obligations. If we make material changes — for example, adding a new category of AI partner or expanding the categories of data we publish — we will provide reasonable advance notice through the Service and via email at least 30 days before the change takes effect. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

14 Contact

• General data-use questions — data@aqnex.com
• Takedown and removal requests — takedown@aqnex.com
• Corrections — corrections@aqnex.com
• Privacy rights — privacy@aqnex.com