Privacy Policy

1 Information We Collect

Personal Information You Provide

We collect information that you voluntarily provide to us, including:

Contact Information: Name, email address, phone number, and company name when you fill out our contact or project inquiry forms.
Project Information: The service you are interested in, an optional budget range, and the details you choose to share about your business needs or project.
Job Applications: Your name, email address, phone number, LinkedIn profile, CV or resume file, cover letter or message, and the role you are applying for.
Newsletter Sign-ups: Your email address when you subscribe to our newsletter.
Communication Data: Records and copies of your correspondence when you contact us by email or through our forms.

Information Collected Automatically

We do not use analytics, advertising, or tracking tools, and we do not build profiles of visitors. A limited amount of information is still collected automatically:

Server Logs: Like almost every website, the servers of our hosting provider automatically keep standard access logs for each request, such as your IP address, the date and time, the page or file requested, the referring page, your browser type (user agent), and the response status.
Form Context: When you submit a form, the address and title of the page you submitted it from, and the address of the page you were on when you followed a link to the form, are sent with your submission. This tells us which service or role you are asking about.

2 How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

Service Delivery: To provide, maintain, and improve our services and respond to your inquiries.
Recruitment: To review your job application and contact you about it.
Communication: To send you information about our services, updates, and our newsletter (with your consent).
Security: To keep the website running, diagnose errors, and detect and prevent abuse and security threats.
Legal Compliance: To comply with applicable laws, regulations, and legal processes.
Business Operations: To manage our business relationships and fulfill contractual obligations.

3 Information Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to third parties. We may share your information in the following circumstances:

Service Providers: With the third-party providers that help us run our website and our business, and only as far as they need it to provide their service. These are:
- FormSubmit (formsubmit.co): processes every form on this website (contact, project inquiry, job applications including any CV or resume you attach, and newsletter sign-ups) and delivers the submission to our email inbox. Only the data you enter in those forms, plus the form context described in section 1, is shared.
- Anthropic (anthropic.com): provides the AI model (Claude) behind the optional AI assistant on this website. Only the conversation you have with the assistant and the page you are on are shared, as described in section 8.
- GoDaddy: hosts this website. Its servers keep the standard access logs described in section 1.
- Google Fonts (fonts.gstatic.com): serves the Inter typeface used on this website. When your browser downloads the font, Google receives your IP address and standard browser request information.
- Unsplash (images.unsplash.com): serves stock photography on our About page. When your browser loads it, Unsplash receives your IP address and standard browser request information.
Legal Requirements: When required by law, court order, or governmental authority.
Business Transfers: In connection with any merger, acquisition, or sale of company assets.
Protection of Rights: To protect our rights, privacy, safety, or property, and that of our users or others.
With Your Consent: For any other purpose with your explicit consent.

4 Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal information, including:

Encryption of data in transit using SSL/TLS protocols
Secure data storage with access controls
Regular security assessments and vulnerability testing
Employee training on data protection practices
Incident response procedures for potential data breaches

While we strive to protect your personal information, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security but are committed to continuously improving our security practices.

5 Data Retention

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including:

To provide our services and maintain business relationships
To comply with legal obligations and regulatory requirements
To resolve disputes and enforce our agreements
To maintain records for accounting and tax purposes

When personal information is no longer needed, we will securely delete or anonymize it in accordance with our data retention policies.

6 Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information:

Access: Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
Correction: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
Deletion: Request deletion of your personal information, subject to certain exceptions.
Portability: Request a copy of your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
Objection: Object to the processing of your personal information for certain purposes.
Restriction: Request restriction of processing under certain circumstances.
Withdraw Consent: Withdraw consent at any time where we rely on consent to process your data.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the information provided in the "Contact Us" section below. We will respond to your request within the timeframe required by applicable law.

7 Cookies and Browser Storage

This website does not use analytics or advertising cookies, and we do not use any analytics, advertising, or tracking services. It stores only the following small items in your own browser:

Cookie Notice Choice (localStorage)

When you accept or reject the cookie notice, your choice is saved in your browser's localStorage so the notice is not shown again. It stays on your device and is not sent to us.

Form Context (sessionStorage)

When you follow a link to one of our forms, the address of the page you came from is kept in your browser's sessionStorage for that tab, so it can be included if you submit the form. It is deleted when you close the tab.

AI Assistant Conversation (sessionStorage)

If you use the AI assistant, your conversation (with a technical signature our server adds to each of its answers, so it can recognise them when they are sent back), whether the chat window is open, any message you have not sent yet and the list of our pages the assistant may link to are kept in your browser's sessionStorage for that tab, so the chat stays with you as you move between pages. They are deleted when you close the tab; the conversation is also deleted when you start a new chat.

AI Assistant Button (localStorage)

A single marker records that the assistant button has already shown its one-time animation, so it does not repeat. It stays on your device and is not sent to us.

Loading the Inter font from Google Fonts and the stock photography on our About page from Unsplash sends your IP address to those providers, as described in section 3. Their use of that information is governed by their own privacy policies.

You can delete the stored items at any time by clearing this website's data in your browser settings. The website keeps working without them.

8 AI Assistant

Our website offers an optional AI assistant (the "Ask Merik AI" button) that answers questions about Merik Solutions and can open pages of this website for you. Nothing is sent until you send it a message.

What is sent: When you send a message, the conversation so far (your messages and the assistant's answers, up to the 20 most recent) and the address of the page you are on go to our server and from there to Anthropic, the provider of the Claude AI model, which generates the answer. The page address is passed on only if it is one of our published pages.
Personal details removed first: Before your messages leave our server, it automatically replaces e-mail addresses, phone numbers, ID numbers, payment card numbers, IBANs, and passwords or API keys that it recognises with a placeholder such as "[email removed]", so those details are not sent to Anthropic. Recognition is automatic and may miss some details, so please still do not share personal information in the chat (use our contact form instead), and never share passwords or keys with us at all.
Anthropic: Anthropic, based in the United States, processes your messages to generate the answer and handles them under its commercial terms and privacy policy. Under those terms, by default Anthropic does not use the messages sent to it through its API, or the answers it generates, to train its models, and we have not opted in to any program that would allow it.
Who can use it: The assistant is not restricted by country, and our server does not determine your location. It is intended only for visitors aged 18 or older.
No chat transcripts: We do not keep the content of your conversations. The conversation is stored only in your own browser for that tab, as described in section 7.
Abuse protection: To limit how many messages can be sent, our server keeps request counters and an estimate of the cost of your messages for the current day, and a short-lived lock while an answer is being written, under a salted hash of your IP address (a pseudonym), never the address itself. The random salt is replaced every day (UTC), so counters cannot be linked from one day to the next, and each day's counters, locks and salt are deleted automatically shortly after that day ends. If an error occurs, our server records only the time and a technical error code, never your messages or your IP address. Like any other request, each message sent to the assistant is listed in our hosting provider's standard access logs described in section 1, without its content.
Accuracy: Answers are generated automatically and can be wrong. They are not an offer, a quote or professional advice. For anything important, please contact us directly.

Please do not share personal, financial or confidential information with the assistant. If you need us to follow up, use our contact form instead.

9 Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to third-party websites, services, or applications. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of these third parties. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.

10 Children's Privacy

Our services are not directed to individuals under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately, and we will take steps to delete such information.

11 International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your country of residence. These countries may have data protection laws that are different from the laws of your country. We take appropriate safeguards to ensure your personal information remains protected in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable data protection laws.

12 Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

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