Privacy Policy

Who we are

The AI Companion is an AI consultancy working with small and mid-sized businesses. For the purposes of data protection law, we are the data controller for the information described in this policy.

You can reach us about anything in this policy at hello@theaicompanion.co.

What we collect

We collect two kinds of information, and no more than we need.

• Contact form submissions — the name, email address, company name and message you choose to send us. This is the only personal data you actively give us through this website.
• Basic analytics — aggregate, non-identifying information about how the site is used, such as which pages are viewed, approximate country, referring site and device type. We do not use this to build a profile of you.
• Client project data — where you engage us for work, we may process documents, records or systems access that you provide. That processing is governed by the contract and data-processing agreement we sign with you, not by this website policy.

What we don't collect

• We do not sell personal data, and we never have.
• We do not use advertising cookies or third-party tracking pixels on this site.
• We do not use your contact form submissions, or any client data, to train AI models.

Why we use it

We use contact form submissions to reply to your enquiry, arrange a consultation and, if we go on to work together, to administer that engagement. Our lawful basis is legitimate interest in responding to a request you initiated, and performance of a contract once one exists.

We use analytics to understand which parts of the site are useful and to fix what isn't. Our lawful basis is legitimate interest in maintaining and improving our own website.

How long we keep it

• Enquiries that do not lead to work: kept for 12 months, then deleted.
• Client records: kept for the duration of the engagement and for 6 years afterwards, where we are required to retain business and tax records.
• Analytics data: retained in aggregate form for up to 14 months.

Third parties who process data for us

We use a small number of established service providers to run our business. Each is bound by a data-processing agreement and may only use the data to provide their service to us.

• A form-delivery provider, which receives contact form submissions and forwards them to our inbox.
• An email and document provider, used for correspondence and project files.
• A privacy-respecting analytics provider, used for aggregate website statistics.
• A static website host, which serves this site and keeps short-lived server logs for security and reliability.
• Business-tier AI providers, used in client work under agreements that exclude your data from model training.

International transfers

Some of our providers process data outside your country. Where that happens, we rely on the provider's standard contractual clauses or an equivalent recognised safeguard to keep your data protected to the same standard.

How we protect it

Access to enquiry and client data is limited to the people who need it to do the work. Accounts are protected with multi-factor authentication, devices are encrypted, and access is revoked when it is no longer needed. No system is perfectly secure, but we treat client information as confidential by default and sign an NDA before any project begins.

Your rights

You can ask us to do any of the following, free of charge.

• Access — get a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correction — have inaccurate or incomplete data fixed.
• Deletion — have your data erased where we have no ongoing legal or contractual reason to keep it.
• Restriction — ask us to pause processing while a concern is resolved.
• Objection — object to processing carried out on the basis of legitimate interest.
• Portability — receive data you gave us in a common, machine-readable format.

How to make a request

Email hello@theaicompanion.co with the word 'Privacy' in the subject line and tell us what you would like us to do. We may ask one or two questions to confirm your identity, then respond within 30 days. If we cannot do what you have asked, we will explain why.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to complain to the data protection authority in your country.

Cookies

This website does not set advertising or profiling cookies. Any storage used is limited to what is strictly necessary to serve the site correctly, and our analytics provider is configured to work without cookies that identify you.

Changes to this policy

If we change how we handle personal data, we will update this page and revise the date at the top. Material changes affecting existing clients will also be communicated directly.