Terms of Use

Thank you for visiting “SHAREKNA” the National eParticipation Platform of the Kingdom of Bahrain Website (sharekna.bahrain.bh). By accessing and using the Website and/or accessing its services, you shall be deemed to have accepted to be legally bound by these Terms of Use. In these Terms, the words "we", "our" and "us" refers to the Information & eGovernment Authority and “You” and “Yours” refers to the users of the website, “website” means the National eParticipation Platform Website established at URL sharekna.bahrain.bh.

Moderation Policy

The Polls, Blogs, Consultations and the social media channels on this platform enable you to share your ideas, comments and engage in an effective and respectful dialogue with our representatives.

All comments are pre-moderated to ensure satisfactory user experience and to ensure that none of the below activities are performed:

• Use of vulgar, offensive or obscene terms and language
• Malicious posts jeopardizing other users or the website
• Spam and automated messages and advertisements
• Post containing references to illegal activities or libelous remarks
• Impersonation of a person or an organization
• Incitement of hatred about a specific group

The moderator reserves the right to suspend comments at any time.

Proprietary Rights

1. The Website is maintained by the Information & eGovernment Authority, Kingdom of Bahrain.
2. The materials located on the website including the information, content and software programs, are protected by copyright, trademark and other forms of proprietary rights.

User Conduct

• Respectful Behavior: You agree to use the website in a respectful and civil manner, avoiding any language or behavior that is offensive, threatening, abusive, or discriminatory.
• No Illegal Activity: You will not use the website for any illegal or harmful purposes, including but not limited to, hacking, spamming, or distributing malware.
• No Spamming: You agree not spam the website with unsolicited messages, advertisements, or promotional content.
• Intellectual Property: You agree to respect the intellectual property rights of others, including copyrights, trademarks, and patents. You will not upload, download, or share any copyrighted material without permission from the copyright owner.
• Data Privacy: You agree to not share any personal information of other individuals without their consent.
• Accurate Information: You will not knowingly post false or misleading information.

User Generated Content

• You retain ownership of your content, but you grant us a license to use it on the website.
• We reserve the right to remove any content that violates these Terms and Conditions. We may also remove content that is inaccurate, misleading, or outdated.   
• We allow users to express their opinions and views on the website, however we do not endorse any user-generated content. Any opinions expressed by users are their own and do not necessarily reflect our views.

Standards for Comments and eParticipation

To encourage active community involvement and improve government services, sharekna.bahrain.bh has established guidelines for online comments and participation.

Key Objectives:

• Enhance community engagement in decision-making.
• Promote transparency through surveys, polls and other online participation tools.
• Provide easy access to various eParticipation channels.

Comment Guidelines:

• Be respectful and avoid offensive language.

Stay on topic.

• Focus on constructive criticism, not personal attacks.
• Avoid sectarianism, racism, and religious disputes.
• Use caution when discussing religious matters.
• Do not insult religions or beliefs.
• Avoid sharing personal information.

By following these guidelines, users can contribute to a positive and productive online community.

Restrictions on use of Materials

Except as otherwise provided, the Contents of the website shall not be reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or otherwise distributed in any way, without the prior written permission of the Information & eGovernment Authority- Kingdom of Bahrain- Marketing & Awareness Directorate.

Modification of any of the contents or use of the contents for any other purpose will be a violation of the Information & eGovernment Authority –Kingdom of Bahrain- copyright and other intellectual property rights. Graphics and images on the website are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced or appropriated in any manner without written permission of the Information & eGovernment Authority Kingdom of Bahrain, Communications & Marketing Directorate.

eParticipation Policy

The website is in line with the Kingdom of Bahrain’s eParticipation policy which apply to government entities and their online communication and constituent engagement activities which include but are not limited to information sharing, public consultation as well as collaboration with the constituents. The eParticipation Policy also applies to all topics, opinions, discussions, reports, documents, surveys, feedback, appeals, complaints, suggestions, petitions, and opinion polls that are offered, published, broadcasted or exchanged through electronic Participation tools through any the Website or through any social networking sites, whether they are submitted or shared using personal computers, smart mobile devices or tablets.

Governing Law

These Terms of Use shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Changes to this Material

If this material changes in any way, we will place an updated version on this page. Regularly reviewing this page ensures that you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances if any, we will share it with other parties.

External Links on SHAREKNA Platform

• The Website provides links to other portals and websites to enhance user convenience. However, we are not responsible for the content or accuracy of these external websites. Accessing these links is entirely at the user's discretion.
• We endeavor to replace inactive links with active ones. Nevertheless, we cannot guarantee the perpetual availability of all links.

Questions and Comments on the above Material

Questions or comments regarding the contents above may be directed to:

Information & eGovernment Authority– Kingdom of Bahrain- Communications & Marketing Directorate on info@iga.gov.bh.

Privacy Policy

Thank you for visiting “SHAREKNA” the National eParticipation Platform of the Kingdom of Bahrain Website sharekna.bahrain.bh.

The below privacy policy describes how personal data is handled & collected when visiting the National eParticipation Platform including other Tracking Technologies (Cookies).

In this privacy policy statement, the words "we", "our" and "us" refers to the Information & eGovernment Authority and “you” and “your” refers to the user of the Website, while “website” which is the National eParticipation Platform established at URL sharekna.bahrain.bh.

The Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA)  is the controller of processing the personal data collected about you.

Authority contact information:

• The Information & eGovernment Authority – Building no. 1088, Road no. 4025, Block no.840 - Isa Town - Kingdom of Bahrain. 
• Postal mail: P.O Box 33305, Kingdom of Bahrain. 
• The Government Services Contact Center: (+973) 8000 8001

The legal basis for the processing of your personal data at bahrain.bh is derived from the Law No. (30) of 2018 on Issuing the Personal Data Protection law (PDF, 304KB, 40 pages, Arabic only).

How to Submit a complaint

You have the right to lodge a complaint if you are dissatisfied with the manner in which sharekna.bahrain.bh is processing your personal data through any of the following channels:

• Email: Customer.Care@iga.gov.bh
• Submit a request through the National Suggestion & Complaint system “Tawasul ” or Tawasul App
• Contact the Government Services Contact Center: (+973) 8000 8001
• Postal mail: P.O Box 33305, Kingdom of Bahrain. 
• Visit The Information & eGovernment Authority – Building no. 1088, Road no. 4025, Block no.840 - Isa Town - Kingdom of Bahrain.

Collection & Usage of Personal Data

Personal Data of individuals will be used in a limited situations, such as: 

• Answering customer service requests 
• Improve the the National eParticipation Platform “SHAREKNA” and its related services
• Request feedback from customers 
• Ease the use of the website by eliminating the repeated actions of entering the same required information when your data is retained

Selling your personal information to third parties is against our policies and laws; however, we may provide your personal data to companies that provide services in order to help us with our business activities; for instance, vehicle insurance. These companies are authorized to use your personal information only as necessary so as to provide these services to us.

In certain situations, The Information & eGovernment Authority may be required to disclose personal data in response to legal requests by government authorities, including meeting national security or law enforcement requirements.

The information you provide us with may be shared with other governmental entities when answering the questions that require their input and feedback, or otherwise are required by law - for instance, to comply with a subpoena or similar legal processes.

Choice to Opt Out

You are able to create and share information such as comments, voting and photos with others. Please note that we cannot control the actions of whom you choose to share your content and information.

Blogs, Consultations, and Online Forums

The website offers publicly accessible blogs or community forums; please be aware that any information you provide in these areas may be read, collected and used by others who access these online forums. To request removal of your personal information from our blog or community forum, you may contact us at Customer.Care@iga.gov.bh.  In some cases, we may not be capable of removing your personal information, in this case, we will certainly inform you along with the reason.

Information Security

The security of your personal information is important to us. We follow generally accepted standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once it is received.

To safeguard your personal data, the electronic storage and transmission of personal data will be secured with appropriate security technologies.

If you have any questions about the security of your personal information, you can contact us on Customer.Care@iga.gov.bh.

Protection from Cyber Threats and Viruses

We strive to maintain the highest standards of content quality and regularly review and monitor this Website. However, we strongly recommend that users employ robust antivirus software when downloading any content from the Website. We cannot be held liable for any data loss or damage to user devices that may occur during the use of this Website or its content.

Changes in this Privacy Statement

If we decide to change our privacy practices, we will post those changes to this privacy statement on the home page and other places we deem appropriate so that you are aware of these changes.

We reserve the right to modify this privacy statement at any time, so please review it frequently. If we change how we use your personal information, we will notify you here, via email or by means of a notice on our home page.

Tracking, Collecting and using information

The Information & eGovernment Authority and its partners – namely, government websites, affiliates, analytics, or service providers- use technologies such as cookies, beacons, tags and scripts. These technologies are utilized in analysing trends, administering the website, tracking users’ movements around the website, for the purpose of gathering demographic information about our user-base as a whole. We may receive reports based on the use of these technologies by these companies on an individual as well as aggregated basis.

As most of the websites, we gather certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information may include Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet Service Provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and/or clickstream data. We may combine this automatically collected log information with other information we collect about you to improve the services, marketing, analytics and website functionality.

Cookie Files

Cookies are small pieces of data that are sometimes created to improve your website user experience. These cookies allow us to distinguish you from other users of our website, they help us to provide you with the best possible experience when you browse our website and will enable us to make improvements.

Cookies improve your browsing experience by:

• Remembering settings, so you don’t have to keep re-entering them whenever you visit a new page
• Remembering information, you’ve given, so you don’t need to keep entering it
• Analyzing how you use the website to improve the way they work for you, to make sure that you find what you’re looking for easily, and to ensure it meets your needs
• Monitoring the efficiency of our marketing campaign

Manage cookies

You can use your web browser or your mobile device settings to:

• Delete all cookies
• Block all cookies
• Allow all cookies
• Block ‘third-party’ cookies (ie, cookies set by online services other than the one you are visiting)
• Clear all cookies when you close the browser
• Open a ‘private browsing’ / ‘incognito’ session, which allows you to browse the web without recording your browsing history or storing local data such as cookies (you should, however, be aware of the limitations of this feature in a privacy context)
• Install add-ons and plugins that extend browser functionality.

Kindly note that some of the Website features will reduce the user experience if the user refuses the cookies.